Fallen Hatch officer’s funeral set for Sunday
Police motorcade to escort hearse to NMSU for public service
LAS CRUCES — The body of fallen Hatch police officer Jose Chavez will make one final patrol of the village before being transported by motorcade to a public funeral on Sunday.
Final patrol
A contingency of motorcycles will gather at Hatch Valley High School and escort the hearse through the village and past the village police department at 1:20 p.m. The procession will continue down Franklin Avenue and will join a motorcade of New Mexico, Texas and Arizona law enforcement.
The motorcade will then travel via Interstate 25 to Las Cruces, where a public funeral will be held at New Mexico State University’s Pan American Center at 3 p.m. Motorists are advised that a rolling roadblock will be in effect from about 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.
The route will continue into Las Cruces and exit on University Avenue, where eastbound and westbound lanes of traffic will be temporarily blocked. The motorcade is expected to turn left on Triviz Drive to Stewart Street, and make a final procession to the Pan American Center via Arrowhead Drive.
Garrison flags will be flown over Arrowhead, along with approximately 100 motorcyclists with the Patriot Guard Riders. Honor guards from the Albuquerque Police Department and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office will fire a ceremonial “rolling thunder” succession of blank rounds as the hearse passes by.
Funeral services
Chavez will receive a “traditional police memorial,” said Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Kelly Jameson, including bagpipes, a 21-gun salute, Taps and a flag-folding ceremony.
Chavez’s fellow police officers — the tiny Hatch department is left with a chief, a lieutenant and five officers — will serve as pallbearers, as will a State Police officer who is said to have been a close friend and mentor, Jameson said.
Gov. Susana Martinez, Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., Hatch Mayor Andy Nuñez and U.S.
Attorney in New Mexico Damon Martinez are slated to speak at the funeral.
Doors at the Pan Am will open at 1 p.m. Attendees are asked to use the north and south entrances only. Also, a strict no-bag policy will be in effect. This includes backpacks, luggage of any kind, and ladies’ purses. Medical equipment secured in a bag will be allowed. Attendees may carry in phones. An hour-long memorial is planned. Outside the Pan American Center’s north entrance, Chavez’s police vehicle will be parked as a “silent witness” — a ceremonial tribute to an officer killed in the line of duty. Mourners may pay their respects with flowers or mementos if they wish.