‘Armed and dangerous’
Matthew Joe is labeled ‘armed and dangerous’
Albuquerque police identify murder suspect who was released by mistake
Police officially identified the suspect in a July 2017 homicide who was mistakenly released from county jail on unrelated charges as the result of a jail employee typo.
Matthew Joe, 30, is the prime suspect in the death of 36-year-old Jaime Dimas, who was killed July 7 outside Tia Betty Blues restaurant in Southeast Albuquerque, police told the Journal on Monday. The story of Dimas’ mother and the jail mistake was featured on the front page of the Journal, also on Monday.
Police are now looking for Joe after he was mistakenly released from the Metropolitan Detention Center, where he was ordered to serve a year sentence on unrelated charges, due to a jail employee typing the wrong year on his booking date.
Crime Stoppers released a statement Monday afternoon saying Joe was wanted on charges of receiving or transferring stolen motor vehicles, possession of drug paraphernalia and concealing identity.
“Joe is also a suspect in a homicide and should be considered armed and dangerous,” the release states.
APD spokesman Simon Drobik confirmed to the Journal it was the Dimas killing.
Joe is described as 6 feet tall, 150 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.
Earlier this year, Joe was behind bars when he took a plea deal on stolen vehicle charges and state District Judge Stanley Whitaker ordered him remanded to MDC for a year sentence.
MDC officials say an employee made a clerical error on May 8, entering the wrong date on Joe’s paperwork, making it look like he had already served a year.
After the mistake, Whitaker ordered Joe to be released hours later, believing he had already served the year.
He now has three felony warrants out for his arrest in three separate cases, but the District Attorney’s Office has yet to file murder charges in the Dimas shooting. An APD detective turned the homicide case over to the DA’s Office the same day Joe was mistakenly released.