Rio Arriba County Jail Boasts No COVID Spread, No New Infections riograndesun.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from riograndesun.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
  Timothy Lopez, charged in the Nov. 26 shooting death of Derick Velarde, was released on ankle monitoring Feb. 4, following a Feb. 3 dangerousness hearing before First Judicial District Court Judge Jason Lidyard. Lidyard said the state did not meet its obligation to prove Lopez was a danger to the community and that the incident was focused on one person.
   Assistant District Attorney Brittany Davila is prosecuting the case and made the argument to keep Lopez incarcerated at the Rio Arriba County Adult Detention Center, where Lopez has been since the shooting. She called three witnesses, all New Mexico State Police officers.
   Agent Daniel Martinez testified that through statements he learned Jimmy Campbell rode with Derick Velarde to La Tiendita Nov. 26 and described Lopez, the man who allegedly shot Velarde.
   The police blotter is published to give readers an abridged look at criminal activity in their community and neighborhood. It is simply an illustration of what local law enforcement, funded by taxpayers, must deal with daily throughout the Española Valley.
   Española Police officers, Ohkay Owingeh Tribal Police, Rio Arriba County Sheriffâs deputies or State Police responded to the following calls:
A whole basket
Jan. 3
   12:07 a.m. A Coyote caller repeatedly tried to get New Mexico State Police to come to his house because he said he had intruders. Dispatch said there were no Rio Arriba County Sheriffâs Office personnel on duty after midnight and State Police had no one in District 5, nor Sandoval County. All District 5 State Police were in Albuquerque.
  A Dec. 23 pretrial detention hearing for shooting suspect Beth Madrid could not move forward after Assistant District Attorney Geoffrey Tagerâs two key witnesses did not call in to the online hearing in District Judge Jason Lidyardâs court.
   Andy Martinez, the man who was allegedly shot in the neck by Madrid and his friend Angelica Molina were subpoenaed but did not call in to the hearing. Molina drove Martinez to the Española Hospital Emergency Room after he was allegedly shot by Madrid in her Jiron Street yard.
   Española Police Department Det. Zach Wright and two officers were on the call for the city.
   In order to reduce the jail population in the Rio Arriba County Adult Detention Center, the County has been sending more people home with ankle monitoring bracelets.
   Jails have become hotbeds for the Coronavirus during the pandemic. The Council on Criminal Justice, in its December report found that 12 percent of persons in a prison had recovered from or were experiencing COVID-19. The non-prison population has experienced COVID-19 at roughly 3 percent. The Council also found the death rate from COVID-19 for inmates was almost double the national average.
   The monitoring program has been paid for through the CARES Act and has been costing the County anywhere from $12,000 to $15,000 a month and has just under 40 participants according to County Economic Development Director Chris Madrid.