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Las Cruces Man Arrested For Taking Naked Toddler Out In Freezing Weather

  A Las Cruces man was jailed early Saturday morning after he reportedly kept his two-year-old daughter outside in 28-degree weather without any clothes on the child.

Just after midnight on Saturday, Jan. 3, a Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Department investigator was called to the 5200 block of Isaacs Lane after a woman in the area called 911 and reported that she heard her neighbors having an argument.

Upon arrival, the investigator learned that Efrain Mejia, 35, had been in an argument with his girlfriend. During the course of the argument, the victim said Mejia tried to leave the house and grabbed the couple’s two-year-old daughter, who was wearing only a diaper.

The victim tried to keep Mejia from leaving the house, but was allegedly pushed to the ground.

Mejia fled the house with the child and was reportedly hiding in the desert for approximately an hour before he entered a neighbor’s house through an unlocked door.

Sheriff’s deputies located Mejia inside the home. The homeowner, who was inside at the time, told deputies he was unaware Mejia was in the house.

The temperature at the time of the incident, according to Mesilla Valley Regional Dispatch Authority, was 28 degrees. 

Mejia was arrested and charged with battery against a household member and abuse of a child. He was booked into the Doña Ana County Detention Center where he is being held on a $1,000 cash bond.

Information from Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Department