Clovis Walmart opens mobile pharmacy

The Clovis Walmart on Thursday opened a mobile pharmacy, but a timeline for reopening the rest of the superstore remains unclear.

Joe Pennington, director of the Walmart press office, said Friday the goal is to make the store whole again, but he had no specifics.

"This type of situation, there's a lot in play. You know, at the end of the day we're going to try to reopen to customers as quickly and safely as possible, but I don't want to put a timeline on it," Pennington said.

Walmart has estimated damages at $42 million from the Sept. 3 fire that shut down operations.

The mobile pharmacy, Pennington said, is a "fully functioning pharmacy that can handle all the pharmacy services that were previously conducted in the Clovis Supercenter."

Meanwhile, the man authorities have accused of starting the fire remains in Lubbock where he was arrested Sept. 13.

Jimmy Guillen, 59, told officials he will fight extradition to New Mexico.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Jake Boazman said there is no definite date when Guillen could be back in Clovis.

"We do not have a (court) date at this time because we have to wait for him to go through the extradition process," Boazman said.

Clovis police have been researching Guillen's background since he became the prime suspect in the fire. Deputy Police Chief Trevor Thron said Guillen's criminal history compiled by the FBI includes a long list of charges, but none for arson until now.

"There were some drug charges and some possession charges of a firearm," Thron said, adding that those charges are from Reno, Nev.

Thron said Guillen told officials he ended up in Clovis by hopping on a cargo train from California. His first known encounter with law officers near Clovis was on Sept. 1.

That's when the Curry County Sheriff's Department received a call about a man sitting under a tree by the railroad tracks west of Cannon Air Force Base. Deputies did not find anyone, but later that day, another caller reported a man matching the same description was on top of the overpass at Cannon.

"So the sheriff's deputy went out there, made contact with our arson suspect, and from my understanding, because he had some sort of leg injury or was complaining about his leg hurting, EMS was called, and he was transported into Clovis to (the hospital)," Thron said.

Thron said Guillen was released on Sept. 2 from Plains Regional Medical Center. That afternoon, Clovis police found him behind the Clovis Walmart, where they found a small fire in the field behind the store.

"He's crawling around in the field apparently once officers arrive, and he has a lighter and butane torch and stuff like that on him. But he denies starting the fire," Thron said.

Thron said the offense is considered a petty misdemeanor, which only warrants a citation, and so police could not arrest Guillen.

The following morning, police and firefighters responded to the Walmart blaze. Police again questioned Guillen, but determined there was not enough evidence to arrest him and he was released. Later on Sept. 3, police learned Guillen was a suspect in an arson attempt at Lowes Home Improvement. He was not seen by authorities again until he was in Lubbock.

Thron said people in Clovis' transient community told investigators they had seen Guillen in Clovis about a week before the fire.

Thron said there is no evidence in police records suggesting Guillen had ever been to Clovis before the recent events.

"We've never had him in our system. We (city police) have never had contact with him prior to the small fire back behind Walmart," Thron said.