Four-hour standoff in Española ends with suspect's surrender
Jan. 25—Española police and New Mexico State Police engaged in a nearly four-hour standoff Sunday evening with a man suspected of burglarizing a home, according to a criminal complaint.
Jessie Franklin and Michelle Wilson, both 40, were accused of breaking into a residence off Park Road in Española after the homeowner arrived to check on her property and said she discovered Wilson attempting to get in through a back door. She told police a man, later identified as Franklin, was inside the home hiding in a closet, according to a criminal complaint filed in Rio Arriba County Magistrate Court.
According to the complaint, she and the man had gotten into a physical fight and he fled, the woman said.
When Española police arrived around 3 p.m., the complaint says they found Wilson nearby and took her into custody.
Franklin had run to a home on East Fairview Lane, about a quarter-mile away, the complaint said. After officers found him at the second home, he barricaded himself inside, the complaint said.
Española police Lt. Jeremy Apodaca said officers had reason to believe Franklin might have been armed and requested aid from a state police SWAT team.
Two people left the home where Franklin was holed up, the complaint said. One man told police he knew of Franklin but did not know he was suspected of burglarizing a house before he arrived. Franklin would not let him leave, the man said, according to the complaint.
Around 7:30 p.m., Franklin peacefully surrendered, and officers took him into custody, Apodaca said.
Franklin and Wilson were each charged with aggravated burglary. Franklin also was charged with false imprisonment, receiving stolen property, resisting arrest and larceny.
