By Vic Vela
Albuquerque Journal
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A McKinley County official admits that jail staff there slipped up last weekend in releasing a Rio Arriba County man who faces a murder charge, and said that the inmate was let go after a simple phone call - and without the proper paperwork.
Acting McKinley County Manager Doug Decker said that someone who represented himself as a person of authority called the jail in Gallup either Friday or Saturday and said that Toby Gonzales should be released and that documents authorizing that action were on their way.
But Decker does not know who that person was and said that the proper paperwork was never sent.
“It was someone saying they were from Rio Arriba County,” Decker said. “That’s all I’m getting. Whether it’s Joe Schmo on the street pretending to be somebody, I don’t know.”
Decker said that “there may have been some crossed wires” during a shift change at the jail that resulted in a “wrong assumption” that Gonzales was authorized to be released.
Representatives from the District Attorney’s Office and the Rio Arriba County jail, which formerly housed Gonzales, say that his release was never authorized. A spokesman from the Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Office said no one there called McKinley County to authorize the release.
“Absolutely not,” said sheriff’s spokesman Jake Arnold. “There may have been something from somebody pretending to be (from the sheriff’s office).”
A bench warrant out of state District Court states that Gonzales, 22, of El Guique was transported to Española after his release. But Decker said on Thursday that wasn’t the case -Gonzales was picked up by an acquaintance or a family member outside the jail in Gallup on Saturday.
Gonzales was a free man for about three full days after his release. He was taken back into custody by Rio Arriba County sheriff’s deputies Tuesday morning, but he doesn’t face any additional charges related to his few days of freedom.
Gonzales and Rudy Salazar, 32, are co-defendants in a brutal murder case involving the February 2010 slaying of 31-year-old Steven Duran of Chamita. The two alleged assailants doused Duran with gasoline, threw him into an arroyo near Ojo Caliente, and lit him on fire, according to State Police. Duran’s body was found near his pickup on Feb. 24, 2010.
The Rio Arriba County jail often sends inmates to McKinley County to help with space and other issues. But jail administrator Larry Deyapp said Thursday that he pulled out the four Rio Arriba County inmates who were being held there on Monday after he found out about the erroneous release. Deyapp said any decision about sending future inmates to McKinley County will depend on the incident report about the mistaken release and what the jail there plans to do to prevent such blunders in the future.
“People make mistakes,” Deyapp said. “But I want to see how they react going forward.” Decker said he hopes to continue the relationship with Rio Arriba County. “We have bed space and we’d like to sell that space,” he said.
Copyright 2011 Albuquerque Journal