New Mexico State University Police arrested 46-year-old David J. Curtis on a charge of possessing an explosive or incendiary device. Curtis was booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center on June 10 and remains in custody under pretrial detention by the District Court.
“NMSU officers were dispatched to an area of the desert south of the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum on the evening of June 9 after reports of two explosions near an RV camper west of the rodeo facility,” said Justin Dunivan, chief of the NMSU Police Department.
NMSU Police approached the RV and detained Curtis, another man and a woman who were both later released. A search warrant for the RV and immediate vicinity executed by NMSU officers along with the Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Bomb Squad, various federal agencies resulted in the recovery of several items associated with explosive devices and chemicals.
NMSU Police continue to work on this investigation with other local and federal law enforcement agencies, along with the Elephant Butte Irrigation District as it was near the Tortugas Dam Retention Area.
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CUTLINE: New Mexico State University Police arrested David J. Curtis June 9 on a charge of possessing an explosive or incendiary device. (Photo courtesy Dona Ana County Detention Center)