By Roger Lanse

On Saturday, Jan. 5, 2018, at approximately 6:13 p.m. while Grant County sheriff’s deputies were conducting a traffic stop between MM 5-6 on Highway 356, another vehicle, a pickup, approaching the stop at speed, ultimately obeyed deputy’s commands to stop.

According to police documents, the pickup was driven by Steven Escobar, 30, of Santa Clara, and carried a passenger, Gabriel Marquez, 25, also of Santa Clara. Deputies stated they were aware of Escobar’s criminal history including being charged with multiple violent felonies. After Escobar was observed possibly reaching for a firearm, deputies, with service weapons drawn, ordered both men out of the vehicle, and they were put on the ground and placed into investigative detention.

A search of the pickup, the documents stated, revealed a loaded .357 Magnum revolver on the passenger seat which Escobar was seen trying to move outside the vehicle, a loaded .44 Magnum blued revolver on the passenger floor board, and in a backpack, a glass pipe with black ashy residue and .40 Cal. And .223 cal. ammo.

Escobar was arrested and charged with two counts of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm or a destructive device and booked into the Grant County Detention Center. According to GCDC staff, Escobar was released on Tuesday, Jan. 8, by Judge Grijalva of Magistrate II Court in Bayard. Marquez was cited and released on scene.