Santa Ana police nab fugitive
A fugitive Pojoaque man accused of firing shots at law enforcement officers in two incidents last month was arrested Wednesday by tribal police in Bernalillo following a weekslong search, according to New Mexico State Police.
Johnny Black, 32, who authorities had said was considered armed and dangerous, was spotted by a Santa Ana Tribal Police officer at a Warrior Fuel gas station in Bernalillo around midday Wednesday, state police said in a news release.
He had been wanted since early June. Santa Fe Crime Stoppers this week offered a $1,000 reward for information that would lead to his capture. It was not immediately clear whether any tipster contributed to his arrest.
A message for the police department of the Santa Ana Pueblo, south of Algodones, was not immediately returned
Wednesday.
“New Mexico State Police Investigations Bureau continues to investigate this case with no new information available,” a state police spokesman wrote in a statement.
Black was the primary suspect in a June 7 incident in which shots were fired at a Rio Arriba County sheriff ’s deputy. In a separate incident, three weeks after the first, he fired at a state police officer during a stop for a traffic violation, police say.
Days later, aircraft and “tactical units” were deployed in an unsuccessful state police operation seeking to capture Black in Chimayó. Black escaped, reportedly on foot.
Although state police and Santa Fe SWAT teams sought an unnamed suspect on the south side of Santa Fe. Neither agency would confirm Black was the man they sought.