A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a Las Cruces man suspected of leaving the scene of Thursday evening’s crash on Triviz Drive that seriously injured his ex-girlfriend.
Dillon Edwards, 22, is charged with one count each of battery against a household member, criminal damage to property, interference with communication, careless driving and leaving the scene of an accident.
Las Cruces Police detectives learned that Edwards took his ex-girlfriend’s cell phone on March 29 but contacted her through social media on Thursday, indicating that he would return the phone. At around 6:30 p.m., Edwards arrived at the 24-year-old woman’s home and became abusive almost immediately.
Detectives learned that Edwards took keys to the woman’s Jeep and demanded that she leave with him if she wanted her cell phone back. Edwards apparently drove to another residence within Las Cruces where he left the woman in the Jeep and retrieved her phone from inside the home.
The woman told detectives that Edwards then wanted her to drive him to Albuquerque. The two got into an argument and Edwards began driving north on Triviz Drive. As the woman tried calling 911, Edwards is suspected of punching her and pulling her hair while fighting over the phone.
At around 8:40 p.m., as the two continued fighting over the phone and the Jeep approached Stanton Avenue, the vehicle veered sharply left at which time it was struck broadside – on the passenger-side – by a Ford Ranger that was traveling south. The Ranger then crashed into a rock wall.
Though Edwards’ ex-girlfriend was seriously injured in the crash, he fled the scene before police arrived. The driver and sole occupant of the Ranger was not seriously injured in the crash that totaled both vehicles. Edwards’ ex-girlfriend was airlifted to University Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.
Edwards is 5-feet-8-inchces tall and weighs approximately 165 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call police at (575) 526-0795.
Information from Las Cruces Police