By Matthew Young, RealWV, www.therealwv.com
A Honduran man was arrested in Fairlea Monday morning, after a brief search led law enforcement to a locked bedroom inside a Wykle Street residence. Jorge Elpido Erazo Jimenez, 35, was wanted for the charges of domestic battery and malicious wounding – the latter being a felony charge.
Two deputies with the Greenbrier County Sheriff’s Department arrived at the home on Monday to serve Jimenez with an arrest warrant for the two outstanding charges. According to the criminal complaint, witnesses placed Jimenez in the residence approximately 20-to-30 minutes prior to the deputies’ arrival, but had not seen him leave. The complaint further states that deputies witnessed Jimenez’s sister, who also resides in the home, drive by the residence in an attempt to avoid detection. Deputies then pursued and located the sister, at which time she reportedly confirmed that Jimenez was inside the residence.
Deputies report making “several announcements” of their arrival in both English and Spanish, before forcibly entering the locked master bedroom containing Jimenez. Additionally, it was stated in the criminal complaint that Jimenez would not follow deputies’ commands to “fully display his hands.” Jimenez was then reportedly taken to the ground by the two deputies, before allegedly continuing to resist by “tensing up to keep from being placed in handcuffs.” Jimenez was ultimately secured inside the deputies’ vehicle without further incident, and no weapons were reported to be on his person at the time of his arrest. While in custody, Jimenez was served with a domestic violence protective order, and charged with the additional offense of obstructing an officer.
Shortly after his arrest, questions were raised regarding Jimenez’s immigration status. As explained in a Wednesday press release from Greenbrier County Sheriff Bart Baker, “It was also learned that Jorge (Jimenez) had been deported back to Honduras 2016 and had no legal immigration status in the United States.”
According to both the criminal complaint and Baker’s release, agents with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) were contacted, and a detainer was issued to Southern Regional Jail. Despite a bond amount of $30,000 being ordered for the domestic battery, malicious wounding, and obstruction charges, Jimenez will remain in the custody of Southern Regional Jail until such time as DHS confirms his citizenship.
