As Seen in Journal
A Taos woman recently learned that a clerical error had put her on the village’s most-wanted list, The Taos News reported.
Ashley Romero, 23, told The News she learned on Dec. 22 that a warrant had been issued for her arrest in connection with a domestic violence incident in which she allegedly beat a police officer.
Romero said she immediately went to the Taos Public Defender’s Office where she learned that a rap sheet had been mistakenly provided to the 8th Judicial District Attorney’s Office for a different Ashley Romero, who hadn’t showed up for her court hearings, the paper reported.
“I didn’t compare the information to the police report,” Deputy District Attorney Jeff McElroy told The News. “But we caught it right away and of course we regret making the mistake.”
Romero’s birth date and Social Security number were corrected in the court’s paperwork, but no one thought to tell Taos County Crime Stoppers, who posted Romero’s photo on its most-wanted fugitives page on Jan. 4, according to The News.
“I was in Walmart and one of my co-workers said, ‘You’re on Crime Stoppers.’ We thought he was joking, but then I went home and checked,” Romero told the paper.
Crime Stoppers was told of the error and immediately removed Romero’s photo and posted an explanation on its website.