Home Care In Chaparral, NM

DONA ANA COUNTY, N.M. (KFOX14/CBS4) — A man and woman were arrested and charged with child abuse after leaving kids in a vehicle with no A/C in Chaparral on Saturday.

Deputies arrested Oscar Villa and Stephanie Lucero Chantal Diaz.

The man and woman were charged after a 911 call was made that some children were found in an unattended vehicle with no A/C.

According to the court documents, the vehicle was not running and the children were left unattended for about 25 minutes.

The children are reported to be ages 6, 8 and 11.

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There was a heat advisory in effect at the time of the incident and the temperature inside the vehicle was about 112 degrees.

Deputies responded to the parking lot of Stires Supermarket around 2:26 p.m.

When deputies arrived they met with the reporting person who said there were three children left unattended inside a gray vehicle.

The deputy noticed the vehicle was not running and the rear windows were down about six inches.

The deputy said the driver-side window was completely rolled down and saw the children sweating and their faces were red in color, the document stated.

The deputy was outside with the children for 12 minutes before a man and woman walked towards him from inside the store.

Diaz was identified to be the mother of the children and the man was identified as Oscar Villa.

Villa told the deputy the vehicle did not have an air conditioner and that "he knew he had messed up by not taking the kids inside," the document stated.

Diaz told the deputy that one of her daughters needed to use the restroom.

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Villa and the woman went inside with the 4-year-old daughter while leaving the other kids in the vehicle.

Villa told the deputy they decided to leave the children in the vehicle "because it was going to be fast and thought they were in there for only 10 minutes, the affidavit stated.

Diaz and Villa are being charged with three counts of child abuse.

Diaz and Villa are being held at the Doña Ana County Jail.

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EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A woman who allegedly supervised a home where 16 foreign nationals were kept with minimal food and water for more than a week has pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiring to transport unauthorized migrants from Southern New Mexico to the interior of the United States.

By entering her plea in the U.S. Federal District Court for the District of New Mexico, Jacqueline Torres is requesting leniency from the maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the offense, court records show.

Torres was arrested after members of the Intelligence Unit of the U.S. Border Patrol received information about several unauthorized migrants staying in a single room in a Las Cruces, New Mexico, motel. Border agents knocked on the door on the morning of Sept. 7 and interviewed nine foreign nationals who admitted to being in the county illegally.

Further questioning revealed a total of 16 migrants had been staying in a house in Chaparral, New Mexico, since Aug. 29 until being transported to the motel on Sept. 7 by a woman driving a red Lincoln SUV.

One material witness told investigators she and other migrants were threatened and verbally abused at the stash house, and that a woman who “carried a knife and possibly a gun” prevented her and the other foreign nationals from bathing and only provided minimal food and water, court records show. The witness later identified the woman as defendant Torres, records show.

Federal officials arrested Torres shortly after border agents took the migrants into custody. She entered her plea last week in a Las Cruces federal courtroom. Torres admitted to working with others to transport the migrants for monetary gain, court records show.

In addition, from Aug. 29, 2023, to Sept. 7, 2023, “I operated a stash house where I concealed and harbored 16 illegal aliens who had unlawfully come into the United States in an effort to facilitate their continued unlawful presence in the United States,” Torres said in her plea agreement. “… For my part in the conspiracy, I expected to be paid. I knew what I was doing was illegal, but I did it anyway.”

A formal sentencing date is pending.

U.S. Border Patrol El Paso Sector Chief Scott Good, whose area of responsibility includes New Mexico, said his agents discovered 280 “stash houses” and apprehended 3,640 unauthorized migrants in fiscal year 2023. Border agents say it is common for the migrants to be placed by smugglers in overcrowded rooms with minimal hygiene or food, and to otherwise be treated as a commodity.

Slapping a cute little service dog vest on your furry friend could get you in hot water in Texas if he isn't a genuine, fully trained service pup.

During the recent, 88th regular session, lawmakers in the lone star state passed a bill upping the penalties for having a fake service animal.

Those who just want to take the family dog everywhere they go could lose money and time if they're found out.

During the regular session, Texas lawmakers passed HB-4164, which makes it a misdemeanor for someone to intentionally fake a service dog, it increases the fine from $300 to $1,000 and adds 30 hours of community service to a nonprofit or government agency serving people with disabilities.

This law will not change anything regarding emotional support animals, they are still legal in Texas. - kltv

The new law kicks in September 1st, 2023.

There are two types of service animals and the laws are different for each. A true "service" animal is trained to provide a service such as notifying a deaf owner that the doorbell is ringing.

An "emotional support" animal is there to comfort its owner who may suffer from anxiety or PTSD for example.

To verify the legitimacy of an animal, the ADA says business owners can ask only two questions. The first would be "Is the dog a service animal required due to a disability"? the second is, "What work or task is the dog trained to do"?

Service animal owners can, of course, also carry the dogs paperwork as proof of the animals training and/or purpose.

Krazy Arrow Ranchette in Chaparral, NM.

ALAMOGORDO — HELP-NM, Inc. presented a proposal to use the Chaparral Community Center for early childhood services in the community at Thursday’s Otero County Commission meeting.

County Commissioners agreed to discuss the topic during their fall strategic meeting to see if they can have a public meeting in Chaparral to garner feedback from residents to see if they would like to see the community center utilized by HELP-NM to offer programs such as Head Start and Early Head Start.

The meetings have not been scheduled at this time.

According to HELP-NM’s website, for more than 51 years, HELP-NM has provided services to more than 950,000 individuals and families. The 501c3 organization exists to create self-sufficiency and promote economic opportunities to strengthen families throughout New Mexico.

HELP-NM CEO Michael Gutierrez and Vice President of the Office of Learning and Academic Opportunity Gloria Lopez were in attendance at Thursday’s meeting and briefed commissioners on the need for early childhood services in Chaparral.

“Our main focus is on communities in the rural areas because we feel that these areas don’t really have these services,” said Gutierrez. “We have a couple partnerships with this county already. We would like to expand those services by asking for a building to add revenue to your county in Chaparral.”

Lopez said HELP-NM currently serves 23 counties in New Mexico, five of which are in southern New Mexico.

HELP-NM has been serving southern New Mexico since 1970 and offers services in Hidalgo County, Luna County, Don?a Ana County, Sierra County and Otero County.

Approximately 600 children are served from prenatal to 5 years of age. The key programs they offer are Head Start, Early Head Start and NM Pre-K. The services also include education, mental health, nutrition, disabilities, health, family services and parent engagement.

Lopez said HELP-NM has been present in Otero County for 33 years and plans to expand services in the near future.

“Expansion of our existing services would mean most of our classrooms that we currently provide are part time but would like to make them full day,” said Lopez. “According to research, the best value for children is having them for a full day.”

Head Start would expand to the duration of the school year and will be a full day. The NM Pre-K would also expand to full day.

Lopez said HELP-NM would also like to introduce new services for the Early Head Start to increase prenatal and 3-year-old slots. They would also like to increase 3-year-old slots for the NM Pre-K and include a summer program.

HELP-NM is in Alamogordo, La Luz and Tularosa.

Lopez said the dilemma in Chaparral is that the classrooms are in three different locations where the classrooms in the other locations can be found in one facility.

She said they are looking into the community center in Don?a Ana County to temporarily house the classrooms until they can find a better solution.

“If we use the community center in Chaparral we will use it for most of the year. Nine months for early childhood services and the rest of the three months for our summer program,” said Lopez.

If approved, HELP-NM will utilize the community center to full occupancy by July 1, 2018 and it will be responsible for general building and grounds maintenance.

Commissioner Susan Flores said HELP-NM is a great organization but the only issue was the community center was built for all the residents of Chaparral which is why she suggested they have a public meeting about it.

“I do know this is a good program. I worked with the children there through the Keep Tulie Beautiful program. It’s a super good program,” said Flores. “The only problem we have is the community center next to the fire station was built so that the citizens of Chaparral can have a community center, this was voted on by the previous board. It’s a one room building and we don’t have a kitchen in it yet. I propose to have a meeting down there because it was for the citizens.”

Gutierrez told commissioners that the county wouldn’t have to spend much funding because HELP-NM will be covering most of the expenses that includes utilities and appliances.

“We do have equipment already purchased for this facility,” said Gutierrez. “We’re hoping this can be a win-win situation for both HELP-NM and Otero County, but the ones who will benefit the most would be the children.”

Commissioner Janet White said the public meeting should be expected sometime after they have their county strategic planning meeting coming up in the next few months.

Grabbing some party supplies for the weekend isn't quite as easy in Chaparral as it is in El Paso. It can be more entertaining though.

Here in El Paso if you want some adult beverages, your options are endless. In Chaparral, just over the New Mexico state line in far northeast El Paso, the pickings are much slimmer.

The nearest place for liquor outside Chaparral is the Dirty Boot liquor store on McCombs or, for beer and wine only, there's a Speedway across McCombs from Dirty Boot.

Within Chaparral, despite a number of "mom 'n pop" grocery stores, two convenience stores and a couple of "dollar" stores, there are only two businesses licensed to sell alcohol.

The first is Stires Grocery Store, located at 304 McCombs. This is a complete grocery store so you can load up on all your party needs here.

Stuff for the grill, snacks, etc and, of course, your drankz. As far as liquor and beer/wine go, Stires is one stop shopping as they sell all types of beverages. The laws in New Mexico are different from the Texas laws.

New Mexico package stores can sell any type of alcohol whereas stores in Texas, except official "liquor stores", must stick to beer and wine.

The second choice ... here's the interesting one ... in Chaparral is Secrest Market, located at 419 County Line Drive.

They are strictly a liquor store, no groceries, but you can get in and out quickly since people are only buying a couple of things at a time. If you happen to catch them during a rush, or you're just bored, you can kill some time with their animals.

Toss the handler a couple of bucks and he'll give you some food to feed them. I've had a lot of bands, at all levels of stardom, stay at my place and the take away moment for almost everyone of them has always been "the lick-er store pettin' zoo".

Try finding one of those in El Paso.

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