LAS CRUCES - The man wearing camouflage and body armor, and making threatening gestures with a handgun Saturday in a downtown Las Cruces treatment center is a convicted felon who admitted smoking methamphetamine and told hostage negotiators that he wanted to be killed by police, according to a news release from the Las Cruces Police Department.
Noe Jimenez, 37, is charged with one count each of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and injury to a police dog. Additional charges are possible.
Around 2:30 p.m. Saturday, a Las Cruces police officer on patrol near downtown was flagged down and told that an armed man had just entered the Arid Club at 334 W. Griggs Ave. Responding officers set up a perimeter and temporarily evacuated a couple of nearby buildings.
LCPD's SWAT Team surrounded the building and the hostage negotiation team tried to contact with the man, later determined to be Jimenez. Police learned that another man was inside the building for a short period of time but was able to leave unharmed. The man later told police that he was not held against his will but remained in the building and attempted to engage Jimenez in conversation.
About an hour after the incident began, the SWAT team fired two less-lethal beanbag rounds which forced Jimenez to the ground. A police K-9 was unleashed and Jimenez struck the dog with a chair and punched him several times. A Taser also was deployed before Jimenez was subdued by the SWAT team.
Jimenez was wearing camouflage fatigues and tactical body armor, and entered the building with a loaded .22 caliber revolver. Jimenez had placed the revolver on a countertop prior to the SWAT team entering the building. Jimenez also carried nun-chucks, and a subsequent search warrant of his vehicle parked outside the club revealed an ammunition pouch with an additional 45 rounds.
Jimenez is being held at the Dona Ana County Detention Center with bond set at $5,000.
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