Serving the High Plains

Six jailed after fight

Six Tucumcari residents landed in the county jail on felony complaints after their alleged roles in a fight that included assaults with a baseball bat that hospitalized one person.

Tucumcari Police Cpl. Shaun Slate filed five of the complaints Nov. 26, and all five suspects were booked Nov. 28 into the Quay County Detention Center in Tucumcari. A sixth suspect was booked into the county jail Friday. They still were in custody at the jail before press start.

The suspects are:

• Christopher Bryan Gonzales, 26, of Tucumcari, on complaints of felony aggravated burglary (armed with a deadly weapon), felony aggravated battery (use of a deadly weapon), felony abuse of a child (first offense; placed in a dangerous situation) and felony conspiracy to commit a felony (aggravated burglary).

• Juanita Adelicia Gonzales, 44, of Tucumcari, on complaints of felony aggravated burglary (armed with a deadly weapon), aggravated battery (use of a deadly weapon), felony abuse of a child (first offense; placed in a dangerous situation), felony aggravated assault (use of a deadly weapon) and felony conspiracy to commit a felony (aggravated battery, aggravated burglary or child abuse).

• Alyssa Breeanna Gonzales, 22, of Tucumcari, on complaints of felony aggravated battery (armed with a deadly weapon), felony aggravated battery (use of a deadly weapon), felony abuse of a child (first offense; placed in a dangerous situation), felony conspiracy to commit a felony (aggravated burglary, aggravated battery or child abuse), misdemeanor battery against a household member, misdemeanor aggravated battery, misdemeanor battery and misdemeanor criminal damage to property (less than $1,000).

• Feliciana Marie Lovato, 25, of Tucumcari, on complaints of felony aggravated burglary (armed with a deadly weapon), felony aggravated battery (use of a deadly weapon), felony abuse of a child (first offense, placed in a dangerous situation) and felony conspiracy to commit a felony (aggravated burglary).

• Louis Engel, 35, of Tucumcari, on complaints of felony aggravated battery (use of a deadly weapon), felony tampering with evidence and misdemeanor battery.

• Breysen K. Billings, 23, of Tucumcari, on complaints in warrant of felony aggravated burglary (use of a deady weapon), felony aggravated battery (use of a deadly weapon), felony abuse of a child and attempt to commit a felony (aggravated burglary). A filed criminal complaint hadn’t been filed in magistrate court against Billings at press start, but a clerk confirmed the counts in a warrant against him came from the same incident as the others. Billings also prominently was cited in the other suspects’ criminal complaints.

The felony complaints against them were fourth- or third-degree offenses that carry up to 18 months or up to six years in prison, respectively, and up to a $5,000 fine.

According to the complaints, after 10 p.m. Nov. 16 the three Gonzaleses, Billings and Lovato pushed through a closed front door of Engel’s home with a pink and silver aluminum bat and began fighting with him and two other occupants.

Engel eventually took the bat away from Juanita Gonzales and hit her on the head with it, leaving a four-inch gash on her forehead that required treatment at Trigg Memorial Hospital. At least three other people also sustained injuries during the brawl but weren’t hospitalized.

A confrontation Alyssa Gonzales had with Engel’s son, with whom she once had a romantic relationship, over $5 he owed preceded the fight.

The officer filed child-abuse complaints because a person younger than 18 years old was in the home at the time, and the suspects’ “reckless” conduct may have “endangered his or her life.”

The officer also accused Engel of trying to hide in a shower the bat used to strike Juanita Gonzales, hence the tampering complaint.

 
 
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