Police say man hospitalized after chase, officer shooting

PORTALES — A man shot by law enforcement officers Monday afternoon following a tumultuous pursuit in a tractor was in custody at a hospital recovering from non-life threatening injuries, officials said.

“This guy was crazy,” Kendall McDaniel said of the man damaging property southeast of the city in what he described as a tractor with a front-end loader. “He was driving erratically ... he was driving belligerently.”

Officials did not release the name of the individual apprehended soon after 1 p.m. Monday but described the location of the incident as being near 18th and Kilgore streets.

McDaniel said he was out driving with his wife when he saw the suspect emerge from Cottonwood Place, a road near the intersection.

“He kind of stopped and he looked at both of us and he smiled. Then he went the other way and took off through a field,” McDaniel said. “He looked happy. I don’t know. He was just smiling, and I thought, ‘This guy has lost his mind.’”

McDaniel said he and his wife first drove to the area from which the man had come and found damage to at least two vehicles and a residence. He said they first checked in that area in case somebody was hurt, then turned back around and saw police in his pursuit.

“We were concerned because it was pretty scary. This guy could have driven through a house at any time,” he said. “He was driving in circles and being crazy. ... We were face to face. He could have ran me over.”

Responding officers soon had the man cornered in a field, to which he had brought them after several miles of chase off of paved roads, McDaniel said.

“Those guys were heroes,” he said of police. “They jumped out of their cars and went after that guy.”

No officers were injured and the man was transported to two hospitals, New Mexico State Police Public Information Officer Carl Christiansen said Monday night.

Christiansen confirmed the man was shot by officers and that Roosevelt County Sheriff deputies were first to respond for the investigation now being led by NMSP. He said more information on the incident would be released today.