Deming towman accused in car chase and shooting

DEMING — The owner of a local towing and mechanic shop is in Luna County jail after what New Mexico State Police described as a wild, dangerous chase involving civilian vehicles and gunfire over 55 miles from Deming into Las Cruces earlier this week.

Ramon Peña, 58, owner of Ramon’s Towing and Auto Repair, is facing eight counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon — for allegedly firing his gun and using his car as a weapon. 

Nicholas Day, 28, of Las Cruces, is also in custody, accused of stealing a white flatbed truck from Peña’s towing yard in Deming early Tuesday.

The business is on Pine Street, the city’s commercial loop south of Interstate 10, with a small auto shop and parking lot often overflowing with vehicles.

According to charging documents, Peña gave chase after Day drove toward the interstate in the stolen flatbed. A third vehicle involved in the chase, described as a silver Hyundai, was characterized by state police as a getaway car with three passengers besides Day.

Citing statements by Day and the other passengers, police allege Day ditched the truck on the interstate near mile marker 85 on Deming’s east side and joined the group in the Hyundai. They claimed Peña made a U-turn on the interstate and fired two shots with a handgun, striking the vehicle but not hitting anyone inside. 

Peña allegedly pursued them to the intersection of Motel Boulevard and W. Picacho Avenue in Las Cruces, attempting to ram them and firing a gun at the vehicle. State police said as they arrived at the intersection, an officer observed Peña ramming his black pickup truck into the Hyundai.

Peña did not appear to have an attorney as of Thursday.

Police state they recovered a 9mm handgun and casings from Peña’s pickup truck and that the Hyundai had three bullet holes on the driver’s side passenger door and rear fender.

News of Peña’s arrest shook the community, where he is widely known as a businessman, Deming native and father who had drawn local news coverage for rescuing stranded motorists. He is also the organizer of a long-running annual motorcycle run in honor of his late son, Ramon “Momo” Peña III, who died in a 2009 vehicle crash at age 18. The event raises funds for local scholarships.

Prosecutors are asking the court to hold Peña in custody through his trial, arguing in a pretrial detention motion that he “engaged in a series of acts over a prolonged incident that create a strong inference of a potential to reoffend” if he were released while his case is pending. He is set for a detention hearing before state District Judge Jarod Hofacket later this month.

Day is also being held for a detention hearing, with state District Judge Jennifer DeLaney to decide whether conditions of release would ensure public safety and Day’s appearance in court. Prosecutors cited Day’s prior criminal history plus a pending case in Doña Ana County on which he was granted pretrial release, as well as evidence in this case, as grounds to hold him. Day is charged with a single count of unlawful taking of a motor vehicle, a fourth-degree felony.

The other three passengers in the Hyundai told police that they had dropped Day off at a Days Inn near Peña’s shop in order to assist a friend with a disabled vehicle. They were not charged in the incident.

Algernon D’Ammassa is the Journal’s southern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at adammassa@abqjournal.com.