FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 3, 2018
Contact: David Carl (505) 288-2465
Doña Ana County, NM – Doña Ana County Sheriff’s detectives say a wanted 49-year-old violent convicted sex offender is in custody – thanks to the observant eyes of a fellow law-enforcement officer.
The nationwide, no-bond extradition warrant was issued Tuesday for Samuel Anthony Herrod. According to detectives, Herrod reported to the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office that he was moving to Las Cruces on June 12. Under the New Mexico Sex Offender Registration Act, convicted sex offenders are required to make notification with the county’s sex-offender
registration office within 10 days of arrival if the offender plans to establish residency there.
Herrod reportedly failed to register in Doña Ana County within the required timeframe, prompting the warrant.
A notification of Herrod’s status was sent to the media, and to neighboring law-enforcement agencies, including the office of Attorney General Hector Balderas.
“My office continues to focus on locking up the most dangerous, violent offenders across New Mexico, and working with valuable law enforcement partners like the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office and the Las Cruces Police Department,” said Attorney General Hector Balderas. “Cases like these demonstrate the importance of collaboration and coordination between state and local law enforcement in protecting the citizens of New Mexico.”
James Hallinan, communications director for Balderas’s office, alerted Office of the Attorney General special agents in the Las Cruces office to the situation, and hours later, Special Agent Michael Koszola spotted Herrod in the 200 block of Avenida de Mesilla in Las Cruces. Officers with the Las Cruces Police Department took Herrod into custody without incident.
Herrod was convicted in 1995 of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 43-year-old woman. His criminal history also includes armed robbery, aggravated battery and aggravated assault.
Detectives said Herrod was most recently living in an Airstream trailer at an RV park in the 2200 block of South Valley Drive in Las Cruces, but the manager of the park told detectives she asked Herrod to vacate the park on June 30. She also tipped off detectives that he could be in the area of Avenida de Mesilla.
Herrod is currently being held without bond at the Doña Ana County Detention Center on charges of failure to register as a sex offender.
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