Escapee in Prison Van Ends Flight With Suicide


5/9/01 - NEW MEXICO - A Federal Correctional Institute 
inmate committed suicide Tuesday morning by shooting himself 
during an escape attempt and the subsequent pursuit.

Oswaldo Nava, 37, was declared dead at Thomason Hospital in 
El Paso about two hours after the midmorning pursuit.

The incident began Tuesday morning when the inmate was 
escorted to a Las Cruces dental office on Hillrise Drive.
Nava and an armed accomplice overpowered the escorts, 
a physician's assistant and an unarmed guard as they 
fled the dental office.

Authorities said at least one shot was fired during the escape.

Armed with a semiautomatic pistol, Nava took his two escorts 
hostage and fled in the federal prison van while his
accomplice fled alone in a separate vehicle.

Both suspects headed west on University Boulevard near New 
Mexico State University and then took the Interstate 25 entrance
south to I-10 and El Paso, according to Las Cruces police spokesman 
Sgt. Todd Gregory.

About 10 miles south of Las Cruces near Vado, spike strips laid 
down on the roadway blew out the tires of the prison van.

Gregory said the van slowed to about 15 mph, "and that's when 
he shot himself and the van just kind of veered off to the 
right, hit the shoulder and then a barbed wire fence."

The hostages were not injured during the incident.

El Paso sheriff's deputies took Nava's alleged accomplice, 
Roberto Montoya, into custody after a spike strip flattened
three tires on the pickup. The accomplice was questioned by 
the FBI and was expected to be charged with assaulting a
federal officer and conspiracy to aid in unlawful flight.


Back


http ://www.thebackup.com/news.asp