FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
05/15/2026
San Juan County Sheriff’s Office Assists Untied States Marshals Service in Arresting Multiple Fugitives
San Juan County, NM – On May 12th, 2026, the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office’s Aviation Unit assisted the United States Marshals Service as they served warrants on three wanted fugitives in San Juan County and Sandoval County. Our helicopter, staffed with two deputies who are cross-commissioned as USMS Temporary Field Officers, kept a close eye on the wanted subjects as the Marshals and other Temporary Field Officers from the Sheriff’s Office carried out the arrests.
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The three fugitives that were arrested are:
Paul Benavidez Jr: Aggravated Assault on a Law Enforcement Officer and Aggravated Fleeing (2 counts). His warrants were from Sandoval County, NM.
Eric Lopez: Aggravated Sexual Abuse. He had federal warrants from Arizona and New Mexico and he is facing new federal charges out of NM for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender
Tracy Antonio: He had a federal warrant out of AZ for Supervised Release Violation, original charge of Sexual Abuse of a Minor. Facing new federal charges out of AZ for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender.
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We are always happy to assist our local, state, and federal partners in upholding the law and bringing wanted subjects to justice. We currently have 12 Sheriff’s Office personnel who are cross commissioned as Temporary Field Officers with USMS and participate in ongoing operations regularly. Crime doesn’t stop at jurisdictional borders and our collaboration doesn’t end at county lines or city limits.
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Media Contact: Rebekah Click
San Juan County Sheriff's Office
clickr@sjcso.com
