GRANTS, N.M. – A high-speed pursuit involving a stolen vehicle ended with the arrest of a felon in possession of a homemade firearm in Grants, New Mexico, on October 4, 2023. Grants Police Department officers were patrolling the area of E Sage and Balsam Ave when the incident unfolded.
At approximately 12:30 p.m., GPD officers received information from their detective division regarding a Red Kia Soul with a Saint Theresa Plate and no other license plate displayed, parked at the residence of 388 Balsam Ave under suspicious circumstances. In response, law enforcement began patrolling the area.
Around 12:49 p.m., officers spotted the vehicle driving north on Balsam Ave, traveling at a high rate of speed. Attempting to pull the vehicle over, he activated his emergency lights and sirens. However, the driver of the Red Kia Soul refused to stop and sped through a parking space, hopped a curb, and drove through the playground area of the Mesa Vista Apartments. The vehicle eventually came to a stop against a chain-link fence, according to the police report.
Officers exited their patrol vehicles and pursued the fleeing suspect on foot. Witnesses directed them toward the Los Alamitos Middle School's bus drop-off area, where he observed a blonde white female wearing a black shirt and denim shorts. The female was identified as Brianna Freitas-Jones.
Meanwhile, the Red Kia Soul was confirmed to be a stolen vehicle from Bernalillo County. Three male subjects near the scene informed officers that three other males had run upstairs in the apartment building at 1131 Mt. Taylor Ave. Officers conducted a search of the building but did not locate any subjects matching the description of the fleeing males.
Upon returning to the stolen vehicle, officers conducted a search, which led to the discovery of several bags containing female clothing and makeup. According to the police report, in a blue duffle bag, officers found a grey plastic object with a metal tube on the front, which was later identified as a homemade single-shot .22 caliber handgun with a spent casing in the chamber. A notebook with diary-like entries signed by Freitas-Jones was also found, according to the report.
During their search of the vehicle, officers uncovered a blue container on the driver's side floorboard. Inside were 22 blue pills and three greenish/ yellow pills, according to the report. A blue cell phone with a picture of Brianna as the lock screen was also found. Officer Robinson secured the phone, blue container, and firearm in the trunk of his patrol vehicle. GPD is awaiting test results to determine what the pills were.
Freitas-Jones was transported to the Grants Police Department for paperwork processing and evidence entry. An Interstate Identification Index check revealed her status as a felon, making her ineligible to possess a firearm.
Freitas-Jones was transported to Core Civic for incarceration, where she faces charges related to the stolen vehicle, possession of a homemade firearm, and drugrelated offenses