Man jailed after high-speed chase

A man is detained in the Quay County Detention Center after being accused of driving his car at speeds of more than 100 mph on Tucumcari streets and fleeing a police officer.

Jarvis Christopher Garza, 20, no address listed, is charged with aggravated fleeing a law-enforcement officer, speeding 36 mph and over, operating a vehicle without headlamps, no insurance, no driver’s license and failure to stop or yield at an intersection.

The aggravated fleeing charge is a fourth-degree felony that could lead to 18 months in prison or up to a $5,000 fine. The rest of the counts are petty misdemeanors.

According to a complaint filed by Tucumcari Police Patrolman Kevin Johnson, he was using a radar gun in the 1500 block of South First Street about 4:10 a.m. Thursday when the device picked up a vehicle traveling 104 mph in a 35 mph zone.

Johnson said he saw a red Cadillac traveling north at high speed. He activated his emergency lights, but the vehicle did not slow.

The officer said the Cadillac turned east onto Hines Avenue, turned off its headlights and turned south on Adams Street, running a stop sign.

He said the vehicle traveled south on Adams at a high speed before turning west onto East Dohoney Avenue, where it stopped in the 200 block.

Johnson ordered the two occupants out of the car and identified the driver as Garza, who was arrested. The other occupant of the car was released at the scene.

Garza made his first court in magistrate court on Friday, where he was found indigent and appointed public defender Brett Phelps of Las Vegas to represent him.

The district attorney’s office also filed a motion to transfer the case to district court, which was granted. A detention and preliminary hearing were scheduled for Wednesday.