The subject of Tuesday’s hours-long SWAT standoff on Richard Drive has been charged with multiple felonies related to an alleged domestic incident with his ex-girlfriend.
Santana D. Jaramillo, 23, is charged with two counts of battery against a household member and one count each of aggravated assault and false imprisonment. Jaramillo also had an outstanding warrant issued out of Magistrate Court.
Las Cruces Police detectives learned that late Monday evening, Jaramillo somehow gained entry to his ex-girlfriend’s apartment while she was away. When the woman returned with her two children, Jaramillo allegedly took her cell phone and keys, and refused to allow her to leave.
Detectives learned that the two argued for several hours during which Jaramillo is believed to have threatened the woman with a handgun.
Tuesday morning the woman was allowed to leave the apartment under the ruse that she would return with breakfast. Instead, the woman alerted relatives who went to the apartment a short while later to pick up the children. When the relatives arrived, Jaramillo’s ex-girlfriend was able to escape with her two children.
Police arrived and attempted to contact Jaramillo but to no avail. LCPD’s SWAT team was activated at around 10 a.m. but Jaramillo continued to ignore repeated commands to exit the apartment.
Investigators obtained a search warrant and SWAT team members gained access to the woman’s apartment where they found a handgun but were unable to locate Jaramillo. At around 5 p.m. SWAT team members entered the adjoining apartment and sent in a K-9 that was successful in locating and subduing Jaramillo.
Jaramillo was transported to a local hospital for treatment of minor injuries and then booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center under a $50,000 cash-only bond. The woman had visible injuries to her face and a cut to the back of her head but those injuries were not life-threatening.
The Las Cruces Police Department received assistance from New Mexico State Police, the Motor Transportation Division and Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office during the SWAT operation.
Information from Las Cruces Police