Following a brief standoff, the Artesia Police Department apprehended the fourth and final suspect in a violent robbery that took place Tuesday in Artesia.
Jeremy Quezada, 22, of Artesia, was arrested late Thursday afternoon on charges of robbery (second-degree felony), kidnapping (first-degree felony), aggravated burglary (second-degree felony), and conspiracy to commit a violent felony (third-degree felony) for his role in the incident.
Quezada was arrested in the 1200 block of Merchant Avenue after a short standoff. According to Cmdr. Lindell Smith of the APD, the department received a tip that led them to Quezada.
“A 15-minute standoff began with calling him on a loudspeaker, identifying he was, indeed, in the house, using techniques of negotiation to bring him out of the house, and then taking him into custody with no violence of action,” said Smith.
No injuries or property damage were reported as a result of the incident. Quezada was transported to the Eddy County Detention Center on a $50,000 bond. He was also served with a warrant for failing to register as a sex offender, which carries an additional $5,000 bond, and a $533 municipal court warrant.
The APD was dispatched just before 9 a.m. Tuesday to 1015 S. Second St. in reference to the initial crime.
APD officers made contact that morning with the victim, who had already been transported to Artesia General Hospital with multiple contusions to both sides of his face. According to the police report, the victim told officers he had been “jumped” by four individuals and had been struck as many as nine times.
The victim was able to identify all four individuals: Quezada, Jhonny Pitts, 17, of Odessa, Texas, Donald Joseph Ybarra, 17, of Artesia, and Daniel Chavez, 16, of Artesia. Ybarra and Chavez were located and taken into custody Wednesday by the APD. They are currently being held at a juvenile detention facility. Pitts was arrested early Thursday afternoon.
The victim stated he had gone into the backyard of his home to find Chavez sitting at a table. As he spoke to him, the three other suspects entered the yard through a back gate that had been locked.
According to the report, the victim was taken back into the home, at which time the four suspects donned masks and gloves. The victim told police Quezada, Ybarra and Chavez struck him while Pitts “stood off to the side.”
The suspects then reportedly took the victim into a “TV room” off the living room, where they kept him while they removed items from the home. The victim stated that while he was briefly moved to a laundry room for the retrieval of a black garbage bag in which to place the stolen items, Quezada took a knife from his backpack and threatened to use it “if it was needed.”
Once back in the living room, the report states, Quezada removed a motion detector and IP camera, and the four suspects left through the rear of the property. The victim ran into the backyard to see them leaving north through the alley and called police.
The APD was able to secure video which shows Chavez walking south toward the residence at approximately 8:09 a.m. Tuesday. At approximately 8:10 a.m., another camera source showed Quezada, Ybarra and Pitts moving north in the alley to the rear of the residence. Ybarra was seen holding a black garbage-style bag. The report states Chavez was seen walking to the residence from the front but gained entry in order to unlock the back gate and allow the other three onto the property.
All of the suspects face the same four charges, and Smith says additional charges in crimes loosely connected to the robbery are possible.
