On February 22, 2011, two teenage murder suspects from El Paso, Texas were arrested by the United States Marshals Service, South West Investigative Fugitive Team (SWIFT) in Las Cruces, NM. The suspects Hugo Gonzalez (17) and Brian Johnson (18) are accused of stabbing a 15 year old boy to death 3 weeks ago while robbing him of a cell phone and an iPod in El Paso, Texas.
On 2/22/2011, the El Paso Police Department received a crime stoppers tip regarding the whereabouts of violent fugitives Gonzalez and Johnson. The El Paso Police Department, a member of the U.S. Marshals Service Lone Star Fugitive Task Force (LSFTF), contacted Deputy Marshals in New Mexico with information the fugitives were hiding out in Las Cruces.
Deputy Marshals and Task Force Officers from both states were able to identify a house in the 1300 block of Thomas Drive in Las Cruces where they believed the fugitives were hiding out. As the law enforcement officers from Texas and New Mexico approached the house, Gonzalez and Johnson attempted to flee the through the rear of the residence. Both suspects were taken into custody without further incident.
Conrad Candelaria United States Marshal for the District of New Mexico said, “When a fugitive flees from state to state there will always be the long arm of the law, reaching out, bringing them back to meet their justice. That is inevitable and this arrest is just another example.â€
