Jesse Reeves, 20, of Rio Rancho and three others were arrested Sunday after the four allegedly left a Raton hotel without paying and then tried to elude police by driving an SUV south in the northbound lanes of Interstate 25 at speeds of up to 115 mph, the Raton Range reported.

State Police responded to a call around 8:30 a.m. Sunday at the Holiday Inn Express on Raton's south end trying to locate an SUV that left without the occupants paying their bill, the Range reported.

The SUV was quickly located at Russell's Travel Center on I-25 5 miles north of Springer, but the car took off southbound in the northbound lanes, with some officers in pursuit, other going ahead to lay down spike strips, the paper said.

The driver, thought to be Reeves, saw what the officers were doing and left the highway to the east, causing another vehicle to veer off the road, and headed across a field toward a county road, according to the range.

Officers found the SUV about 100 feet from the county road and arrested two people at gunpoint -- identified as Rakuel Chavez, 17, and Adam Anthony Garcia, 26.

Reeves wasn't arrested until later in the day when a Colfax County deputy found him hitchhiking on I-25, the Range reported.

A fourth person, 21-year-old Candice Montano of Moriarty, was arrested at Russell's Travel Center, where she had been left when the SUV sped away, the paper said.

The SUV was found to have stolen license plates and was unregistered, and before officers could obtain a search warrant for the vehicle, they observed some passports, a computer and a printer inside, according to the Range.

Police believe those items could be connected to identity theft, the paper reported.

Meanwhile, Reeves was being held on charges of aggravated fleeing from a police officer, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (vehicle), reckless driving, criminal damage to property, retaining stolen property and false evidence of title or registration, the Range said.

The other three also face a variety of charges, including aggravated fleeing, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, being a party to a crime and falsely obtaining services from the hotel, the paper said. 

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