From the Las Vega Optic On a cool October evening in 2018, along a stretch of road that winds through the venerable Sangre de Cristo Mountains in Rociada, New Mexico, Roman Latimer Lucero Sr. drew his last breath. Lucero, 46, was found in the middle of the road, the victim of multiple gunshot wounds. Officers…
From the Las Vegas Optic A Las Vegas man who police say kidnapped a woman at gunpoint in April has been arrested. The woman was found unharmed. Forty-year-old Eric L. Vigil, who is also known as “Eric Builder” and “Scare Bear,” was arrested June 7 in rural San Miguel County following a months-long search. Police…
From the Las Vegas Optic A whistleblower lawsuit filed Wednesday accuses former San Miguel County District Attorney Richard Flores and current District Attorney Tom Clayton of terminating a prosecutor for raising concerns about a judge presiding over a case. The suit centers on two 2019 criminal cases heard in Fourth Judicial District Court by then-state…
From the Las Vegas Optic Police are looking for an 18-year-old Las Vegas man who allegedly shot a 17-year-old girl in the face. The girl told police she was at her boyfriend’s home when someone knocked on the door in the early morning hours of May 25, and that when she answered, a masked man…
From the Las Vegas Optic Luna Community College is facing a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by a former employee who alleges Luna violated his state constitutional rights by firing him for using medical cannabis. At the center of the lawsuit is an employee’s right to use medical cannabis, and whether an employer can terminate someone…
From the Las Vegas Optic As cases of the coronavirus began spreading across the country in early 2020, San Miguel County officials were busy making preparations, anticipating that the virus would spread to New Mexico, and to the county. New Mexico reported its first case March 11, 2020. Eight days later, San Miguel County reported…
From the Las Vegas Optic A family gathering ended in multiple shots being fired at a Las Vegas home, according to an affidavit. Police are still searching for the alleged shooter. An arrest warrant has been issued for Carl Hansberg, 40, of Santa Fe County. Hansberg is charged with one felony count of aggravated assault…
From the Las Vegas Optic A complaint about a noisy party led police to an apartment filled with 14 people who’d been drinking alcohol. Thirteen of those partygoers were under the legal drinking age, and six were under the age of 18. The six teens—ranging in ages from 15 to 17—were released to the custody…
From the Las Vegas Optic A man was shot and killed on the city’s west side early last Saturday morning; however, few details have been released to the public. Chief of Police Adrian Crespin confirmed to the Optic that one person was shot and killed in the 500 block of Socorro Street in the early…
From the Las Vegas Optic A former Pecos High School boys basketball assistant coach has been indicted by a federal grand jury on five counts of using interstate commerce to entice or coerce minor girls into sexual activity. Joshua G. Rico, 25, was arrested Friday and appeared in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque Monday morning…
