Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 122, No. 284 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
November 27, 2013
CCSO makes two arrests in recent shootings JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
A man who engaged several officers and sheriff’s deputies in a gunfight Saturday mor ning during a lengthy standof f was arrested on 15 counts of aggravated assault, according to the Chaves County Sheriff’s Office. A Roswell police officer began chasing Joshua Perez, 20, in north Roswell sometime after 5 a.m., Saturday, after he reportedly
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fled from a traf fic stop, according to reports. Two Chaves County sherif f’s deputies joined the pursuit near the intersection of East Pine Lodge Road and North Red Bridge Road, said Lt. Britt Snyder. The stolen truck Perez was driving possibly began to run out of gas and came to a stop as it passed over the train tracks on East Pine Lodge Road. Perez, a felon, refused orders to get out of the truck, forcing a standoff with officers for nearly 45
minutes before he started shooting, Snyder said. Additional officers and the Roswell Police Department SWAT team had arrived by that time. Perez apparently fired two to three shots at officers during a two- to threehour exchange. Surrounding law enforcement answered with numerous rounds. The truck Perez was driving was equipped with a flatbed with a rack, which caught the brunt of the gunfire.
“The truck was seriously shot up,” Snyder said. A report is still pending on the confrontation. Investigators were expected to search the truck Tuesday, following the issuance of a search warrant. The owner reportedly had stored two guns inside before it was stolen but it is still unclear whether Perez used the weapons during the incident, Snyder said. Perez was arrested on suspicion of 15 counts of aggravated assault on a
Butterflies on display
Mark Wilson Photo
Sue Ashby with Friends of Bitter Lake checks out Jay Kortsch's collection of Peruvian butterflies, including the blue morpho, during the 33rd annual Holly-Day Magic Art & Craft Show at the Roswell Convention Center, Friday.
Mother seeks donations for son’s treatment JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Courtesy Photo
Joshua Curtis (pictured) was born with a blood disorder so rare that the incidences are less than one in a million. His mother, Allison, seeks help funding a visit to the Children’s Hospital at the University of New Mexico Medical Center for tests and treatment. Information about Joshua and a place to make donations is located at www.gofundme.com/4osao8.
Joshua Curtis is a normal little boy who has normal little boy’s wishes and dreams, but he suffers from a blood disorder so rare that the incidences are less than one in a million. He can’t play contact sports or many games that the other children play. “All he wants to be is a normal little boy,” said his mother, Allison. Joshua and others like him may have a weakened immune system as a result of the Delta granule storage pool deficiency. It is an inherited disorder; usually, the symptoms are described as moderate. In
WEDNESDAY
police officer, receiving or transferring a stolen motor vehicle, being a felon in possession of a firearm and aggravated fleeing. No one was injured by gunfire during the confrontation. Perez received a small injury to his hand, Snyder said. Chaves County deputies arrested another person following a second shooting just after midnight Monday at Chisum Travel Center, 5500 N. Main St. A group of customers who apparently knew each
other met inside the store. Upon leaving, two of them began arguing with the other two, Snyder said. One member of the group began firing shots and hit a second person in the leg. The bullet traveled through the person’s leg. A second shot was fired and hit a second person’s shirt sleeve, Snyder said. “They tried to shoot them both,” Snyder said. The shooter was arrested. The incident was still under investigation Tuesday.
JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
west Centre Office Complex. “The lease was renewed and signed over,” McClelland said. “They’re going to be paying for the space for five more years.” Washington Federal removed Bank of America signs and its ATM machine Nov. 1. The signs have not been replaced, but the lease pays for the new branch to display its logos on the side of the tower, McClelland said. “They have the rights to stay there,” he said. Federal Washington reopened the bank Nov. 1. The branch leases space at the center, a complex that includes offices to professionals and Peppers Grill and Bar. The complex, which was held under City of Roswell ownership for the past 30
New Washington Federal branch signs 5-year lease The new Washington Federal Bank branch at the corner of Fifth Street and Main Street, for merly leased by Bank of America, has assumed a five-year lease at the Sunwest Centre Office Complex, according to the center’s manager. Bank of America sold the branch to Washington Federal in July as part of a massive deal that included selling 51 branches in Washington, Idaho, Oregon and New Mexico. The transition at the Roswell location came at the same time that Bank of America’s lease neared an end. Bank of America, however, did renegotiate its lease before tur ning over the branch at the end of October, said Ed McClelland, broker -manager at Sun-
See LEASE, Page A3
Joshua’s case, his symptoms are quite severe. According to the World Federation of Hemophilia, granule storage pool deficiencies are a group of disorders caused by problems with platelet granules. Granules are the little sacs inside the platelet, and platelets are the blood cells that allow blood to clot. Deficiencies result in spontaneous, often severe bleeding. Delta storage pool deficiency is a platelet-function disorder caused by a lack of dense granules and the chemicals nor mally stored inside them. Without these chemicals, platelets are not activated properly See TREATMENT, Page A3
Auditor troubled over altered mental health audit
SANTA FE (AP) — State Auditor Hector Balderas is questioning why a state agency provided his office with a behavioral health audit report that was altered to remove a conclusion that auditors found no “credible allegations of fraud” in a review of case files for more than a dozen providers under investigation for potential misconduct. Balderas obtained a subpoena last week from a district judge in Santa Fe to
try to shed more light on the revisions made by the Human Services Department.
Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration used the report in freezing Medicaid payments to the providers in June, and in having the attorney general’s office launch an investigation of 15 nonprofit providers of mental health and substance abuse services to needy New Mexicans. Balderas’ office said in court filings the depart-
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TODAY’S FORECAST
ment’s failure to provide it with a complete version of the report — as required by a court order earlier this year — is misleading and has hampered work that an independent auditor is doing for the office.
Department spokesman Matt Kennicott said Monday the agency removed a sentence from the report prepared by Public Consulting Group Inc. because it’s the responsibility of the department — not the auditing firm — under fed-
• NORMA JEAN C DE BACA • ORBAN S. WAGGONER • LISA ANN COBOS
eral Medicaid provisions to determine whether there are “credible allegations of fraud” that would trigger an investigation.
“It’s not like we’re trying to subvert any process or anything like that,” Kennicott said. “You don’t hire the auditor to make that determination. So for them to make that statement is not what they were hired for.” Evan Blackstone, the See AUDIT, Page A3
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE A6
James Orcutt, 30, is wanted on charges of battery against a household member following an incident that occurred on Oct. 2, in the 2800 block of W. Second Street. Orcutt is described as being 5 feet, 9 inches tall, 160 pounds, with blond hair and blue eyes. Anyone with information about Orcutt or knows his whereabouts should contact Crime Stoppers at 888-594-TIPS (8477). Callers may remain anonymous and could be eligible for a reward.
CLASSIFIEDS ..........B6 COMICS .................B4 ENTERTAINMENT .....A8 FINANCIAL ..............B3
INDEX GENERAL ...............A2 HOROSCOPES .........A8 LOTTERIES .............A2 NATION ..................A6
OPINION .................A4 SPORTS .................B1
WEATHER ..............A8