Local man facing 5 charges
Calabeza risks being labeled a habitual offender by courts

By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — A Grants man, Erick Calabeza, has been indicted by the 13th Judicial District grand jury in connection with four felonies and one misdemeanor stemming from an incident on Dec. 19, 2006.

Police originally filed an attempted murder charge against him, but the grand jury returned a true bill with a lesser charge of aggravated battery (great bodily harm), said Randolph M. Collins, deputy district attorney.

Aggravated battery is a third-degree felony and the charge is in addition to three other felonies, two third degree and one fourth degree and one misdemeanor indictment, he said.

The additional indictments are: Aggravated battery against an household member (great bodily harm), child abuse (no death or great bodily harm), false imprisonment and one misdemeanor of resisting, evading or obstructing a police officer.

If prosecuted and convicted of all charges, Calabeza could face nearly seven years in prison.

If he is charged as an habitual offender because of his record of previous arrests, he could be facing nearly 42 additional years.

About 9:20 p.m., police responded to a domestic violence call from a woman who had escaped from Calabeza. He had previously held her against her will that night, beat her and threatened to kill her and her son, she told police.

Grants Police Detective Moses Marquez said she told officers the apartment in Lincoln Apartments on Washington Avenue was hers, and they would find him passed out on the couch.

He had a knife beside him on the couch and tried several times to grab it when police awakened him, Marquez said.

Calabeza had to be tazed at least twice before he was calmed down and police were able to restrain him, Marquez said.

Earlier that night, about 7:30 p.m., Calabeza came to the apartment, was agitated and had been drinking, police said.

He attacked the victim who had several bruises on her face and neck when police arrived, and their young son, about 2 years old, was in the apartment when the incident occurred, Marquez said.

Calabeza used a six-inch long kitchen knife with a "very sharp" blade, Marquez said.

The victim also had cuts on her lips and inside her mouth and a swollen nose and a swollen eye.

She was treated and released from the emergency room at Cibola General Hospital, he said.

Initial charges filed against Calabeza included: Attempted murder, aggravated assault with intent to commit a violent felony, false imprisonment, resisting arrest and felony child abuse.

There were two warrants on Calabeza, discovered by police when they checked his information through the central dispatch.

The warrants were from Grants Municipal Court in connection with DWI and McKinley County Magistrate Court in connection with receiving a stolen vehicle, no driver's license and careless driving, Marquez said.

Calabeza's record with Grants police begins in 2002 and includes numerous municipal and magistrate courts warrants in connection with arrests for: two counts of DWI, other traffic violations, burglary, three counts of aggravated battery, two counts of minor procuring alcohol, criminal damage and several district court warrants. Police did not have information about the additional warrants, Marquez said.

To contact reporter Jim Tiffin, call (505) 287-2197 or e-mail: jtiffin.independent@yahoo.com.