ABQ RAW staff
POSTED 03/21/2022 3:02PM
UPDATED 03/21/2022 5:15PM
Cibola County Deputies ended the chase with a PIT maneuver
Cubero, NM –
A McKinley County Sheriff’s Department prison van transporting 3 inmates was taken over by one of the prisoners after he faked a medical episode.
Cibola County Sheriff Tony Mace gave us details of how the incident went down. Suspect Josh Hall faked a medical episode during the transport to McKinley County and the McKinley County Deputy pulled over at the Pit Stop/Laguna Burger convenience store to help Hall. The Pit Stop is located across from the Route 66 Casino. At that point, Hall was able to over power and brutally attack the deputy. Hall took possession of the van with the other prisoners still shackled in the back and now unwilling kidnap victims.
A NM State Police Officer analyzes the aftermath scene
Once it was learned that the van had been taken over Law Enforcement from several agencies began searching for the van. “We got an attempt to locate out and activated all our law enforcement in the area,” said Sheriff Tony Mace.
We learned one of the suspects is Josh Hall and he had just been shot in a federal operation last week at the Route 66 Casino Gas Station near the 66 casino.
Josh Hall from a MDC booking from last week.
Several law enforcement agencies gave chase on I-40 Westbound with speeds reaching above 90MPH. Spike strips were eventually used to slow down the transport van. New Mexico State Police and Cibola County Deputies took the lead during the chase and at the mile marker 102 of I-40 they were able to get the prisoners into custody.
Kidnap victims Billie and Reeves
The chase continued on I-40 through tribal and county jurisdiction for several miles. During the pursuit the transport van struck multiple Cibola County Sheriff department police units. After a lengthy pursuit it finally ended when deputies were able to successfully deploy tire deflation devices and also used a PIT maneuver (Pursuit Intervention Technique) near the 102 mile marker to end the terror. No injuries are reported to law enforcement involved in the chase and the prisoners were also uninjured.
The condition of the van driver, a sworn deputy from McKinley County is unknown at this time.
Cibola County will be charging Josh Hall with aggravated fleeing, stolen motor vehicle, and KIDNAPPING of the two other prisoners who were unwilling participants in the heist. Additionally, New Mexico State Police will be charging Hall with escape from custody.
The three prisoners originally being transported were identified as Josh Hall, 35, of Milan, NM, Rickie Billie, 36, of Albuquerque, NM, and LaCosta Reeves, 45, of Gallup, NM