Local roundup — Aug. 1

Malfunctioning chopper makes landing in field

An air medical helicopter, sustaining a possible overheating or transmission problem, made an emergency landing Friday afternoon in an empty field near Texico, according to Clovis Fire Department Battalion Chief Mike Leatherwood.

Leatherwood said the helicopter had left from Plains Regional Medical Center with a patient en route to Lubbock when Clovis dispatch received a call around 2 p.m.

CFD was called to provide an ambulance to take care of the patient.

The landing was without incident, Leatherwood said.

The CFD ambulance took the patient to the hospital in Muleshoe. Leatherwood said a second helicopter transported the patient from Muleshoe to Lubbock.

Calls to Aerocare, an air ambulance company based out of Clovis Municipal Airport, were not returned Friday afternoon.

Clovis man charged, indicted for 2002 slaying

A Clovis man was indicted Friday morning and charged with first-degree murder for a 2002 killing of a man living in a boxcar, according to District Attorney Andrea Reeb.

David Gutierrez, 33, faces a life sentence for the 2002 slaying of Jose “Chico” Valverde, Reeb said.

“It was an older case. We'd gotten fresh information on it, opened it and filed on it,” Reeb said.

In May 2011, a witness came forward to police saying Gutierrez was responsible for Valverde’s death.

After speaking with other witnesses, authorities said they confirmed information.

Gutierrez is being held in jail without bond until his sentencing, Reeb said. He was formerly being held by the New Mexico Department of Corrections on an unrelated charge, she said.

Man escapes from work detail, recaptured

A trustee in the Quay County Detention Center escaped from a work detail Thursday but was recaptured within 30 minutes.

Christopher Madrid, 23, was doing kitchen cleanup outside the jail when he was left unsupervised and fled about 5 p.m., Quay County Sheriff Russell Shafer said.

Shafer said law officers from multiple agencies established a perimeter and began searching for Madrid. Searchers included a police dog named Aries and his handler, Tyler Marney.

Shafer said Aries tracked Madrid three blocks to a shed located behind a residence in the 400 block of West High Avenue. Aries alerted the officers of Madrid’s presence in the shed, where he was found hiding under a piece of carpet, Shafer said.

The sheriff said Madrid was taken into custody without incident.

Madrid had been a trustee working in the kitchen for about six weeks, said TJ Rich, detention center administrator.

Rich said Madrid was being held in the facility on misdemeanor probation violation charges and was awaiting trial.

Shafer said Madrid will be charged with escaping from a correctional facility, which is a fourth-degree felony with a mandatory sentence of 18 months.

— Staff reports