Sheriff's Department Sued for False Arrest and Malicious Prosecution

Sheriff's Department Sued for False Arrest and Malicious Prosecution

By Frost McGahey

Sheriff Raul Villanueva, Captain Cesar Torres and deputies Ventura, "Andrew" Salas, and Justin Foster have been named in a lawsuit by Jeremy Spurgeon. Jeremy's ordeal with the sheriff's department began when he swerved to miss a deer.

On August 13, 2023, Jeremy was driving his 2016 Hyundai on Racetrack Road late at night when a deer jumped out in front of him. He did an abrupt right turn, crashed off the side of the road and his damaged car came to rest in a vacant field. At the time, Jeremy was 20-years-old and a student at WNMU.

He didn't want to wake his parents because it was late so he called his brother to come pick him up and take him home. At that time he was living with his parents. His father is an Iraqi war veteran and a former Silver City police officer. Jeremy was not hurt, but the car was damaged. He was going to report the accident in the morning.

At 8:15 a.m., Deputies Ventura "Andrew" Salas and Justin Foster arrived at the Spurgeon house. Salas went into Jeremy's bedroom to wake him up. He questioned him then arrested him for leaving the scene of an accident. The deputies did not have a warrant nor did they read him his Miranda Rights.

Salas knew Jeremy because Jeremy's best friend at the time was Genaro Marin III who was Salas's brother-in-law. Marin was also a deputy at that time.

Although Jeremy insisted he was not injured, Salas and Foster tried to get him to go to Gila Regional Medical Center to get looked at. Jeremy refused; he wasn't hurt. His father, Chetman Spurgeon, believes the officers knew they had made a mistake in arresting Jeremy and were trying to cover their tracks.

Chetman went to the sheriff's department to get his son freed. He stood outside in the parking lot in public view and waited for the sheriff to come out. Villanueva, accompanied by several officers, appeared. Chetman asked for his son to be released and a letter of apology. Sheriff Villanueva refused. Chetman left.

In the meantime Jeremy was booked into the Grant County jail, but his violation was not listed as leaving the scene of an accident. Instead, he was classified as "at risk of being sexually abusive." The classification officer listed him as having prior acts of sexual abuse, prior convictions for a violent offense, and a history of prior institutional violence. This is despite the fact that Jeremy had never been charged with a crime, let alone a violent one.*

Jeremy, a man with no criminal history, spent 36 hours in jail listed as a violent, sexual offender. It was another six weeks before the case against him was dismissed "pending further investigation."

A New Mexico State Police (NMSP) officer was called to investigate the Grant County Sheriff's Office for this incident. The police report states that when the NMSP officer was talking to Captain Gallegos at the Sheriff's Department, the captain called Villanueva who said, "Don't let him talk to any of the guys."

The New Mexico State Police investigated and found that the accident did not justify arresting Jeremy. His offense was: statute 66-07-206 Immediate Notice of Accident which is not an arrestable offense.**

Sheriff Villanueva, Salas, Torres, and County Commissioners Answer to Spurgeon Lawsuit:

In a response dated 11/17/25 and filed in the 6th Judicial District, the defendants deny any wrongdoing.

*From the lawsuit against Grant County, Deputy Ventura Salas, Deputy Justin Foster, Captain Cesar Torres and Sheriff Raul Villanueva pursuance to the NM Civil Rights Act, NMSA 1978 41-4A etc.

**NM State Police Report NMSPR2309688