by Jesse Martinez of KFOX News El Paso
http://kfoxtv.com/news/local/two-arrested-in-off-duty-border-patrol-agent-beating-machete-attack
Friday, June 16, 2017
Photo of Puga Courtesy of Doña Ana County Sheriff's Office
Fernando Puga is charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and attempted murder.
DONA ANA COUNTY, N.M. (KFOX14) - Two men accused of attacking an off-duty Border Patrol agent last week are now in custody.
On June 9, the victim was found by a passing motorist just before midnight just off Shalem Colony Trail west of Las Cruces, officials said.
The 30-year-old man had several cuts to his head and arms, authorities said.
Earlier that day, the off-duty agent was helping his mother at her tamale stand in northeast El Paso when he was confronted by Sergio Ivan Vanegas-Quinonez, 33, and Fernando Puga, 31, authorities said.
The agent left in his vehicle with the two men and was later found injured in Las Cruces, authorities said.
The agent told officers the two men were armed with a gun and a machete, and he was repeatedly hit with the machete, authorities said.
The gun was later determined to be a pellet gun, authorities said.
The man was taken to University Medical Center in El Paso, where he remains in critical condition, authorities said.
Earlier that night, around 9 p.m., detectives were dispatched to the 100 block of Ampara Road in Chaparral in reference to an unrelated domestic dispute.
When deputies arrived, they were told Vanegas-Quinonez was at the house demanding to see his ex-girlfriend, authorities said.
The woman’s sister told deputies the man threatened her with what appeared to be a handgun, and he left in the same vehicle that the deputies found on the side of the road where the victim’s mother’s tamale stand was located, authorities said.
On Tuesday, Vanegas-Quinonez was arrested on an outstanding warrant for aggravated battery causing great bodily harm and aggravated assault. He was booked into the El Paso County jail and is awaiting extradition to Dona Ana County.
On Thursday, Puga was arrested by Dona Ana County sheriff’s detectives with the help of FBI agents. He is charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and attempted murder. He is being held in the Dona Ana County jail with bail set at $1 million.