New Mexico State Police conducts PIT maneuver, crashes into stolen Taos County Sheriff’s Office unit
TAOS COUNTY, N.M. (KRQE) – A Georgia man is facing five felony charges and one misdemeanor after he stole a Taos County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) vehicle. Shay Anthony Hawes, 39, was arrested and booked into the Taos County Adult Detention Center after New Mexico State Police (NMSP) officers conducted a PIT maneuver and crashed into the stolen TCSO vehicle to stop Hawes from fleeing.
According to the criminal complaint, at around 2:30 a.m. on Sunday, April 28, a Taos County Sheriff’s vehicle was reported as stolen from the Taos County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy from the sheriff’s office spotted the stolen vehicle heading southbound on Paseo Del Pueblo Sur near Albright Street.
Using lights and sirens, deputies from TCSO tried to conduct a traffic stop, but the driver fled in the vehicle. Eventually, the suspect turned right on Paseo Del Canon, and NMSP intervened, conducting a precision immobilization technique (PIT) maneuver that disabled both the NMSP unit and the stolen TCSO vehicle. According to the complaint, both vehicles were totaled in the crash.
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Deputies identified Hawes as the driver of the vehicle and noted in the criminal complaint that “Hawes has repeatedly been told to stay out of the Taos County Sheriff’s Office property over the last week.”
Hawes was arrested and was taken to Holy Cross Hospital for a head injury from the crash. Hawes was medically cleared at the hospital and was then booked into the Taos County Adult Detention Center.
Officials learned that Hawes is a felon based on a search using the suspect’s Georgia driver’s license. Because the stolen vehicle had a department-issued firearm in it, Hawes is accused of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Hawes is facing the following charges as well: assault with intent to commit a violent felony, unlawful taking of a motor vehicle, aggravated fleeing a law enforcement officer, out-of-state fugitive, and criminal trespass.
