By Wheeler Cowperthwaite
Special to the SUN

A district court judge ordered a Coyote man to be held without bail pending trial in a case where he allegedly backed into a police cruiser, pushed it 30 to 50 feet, then led police on a pursuit, “nearly” hitting a school bus as he allegedly fled.

District Judge Anastasia Martin bound over Fernando Espinoza, 41, on eight counts, and ordered him to be held without bail pending trial as a danger to the community, following a hearing on Feb. 18.

Espinoza allegedly led police on the chase on Jan. 20.

Martin bound him over to district court on two counts of aggravated assault on an officer and one count each of aggravated fleeing, criminal damage to property over $1,000, leaving the scene of an accident, resisting arrest, felon in possession of a firearm and tampering with evidence.

During the Feb. 18 hearing, three officers testified, she wrote.

While the charges themselves were not violent, the “nature of the circumstances” were, Martin wrote.

“Speeding out of a parking lot and almost hitting a school bus, speeding through weekday traffic at 90 mph, failing to stop for three law enforcement vehicles despite repeated signals, use of a vehicle to assault officers, damaging a police vehicle, fleeing on foot through terrain to evade officers and cause them to give chase, and the presence of a firearm, all created a dangerous situation for law enforcement and the community; this weighs in favor of detention,” Martin wrote.

Espinoza’s criminal history is “lengthy,” with one felony charge per year between 2005 and 2014 and from 2016-2022, as well as a bench warrant issued in 2025.

“The danger to others is high,” Martin wrote. “The State presented evidence of a clear and convincing nature that the defendant has a disregard for the safety of others in the community, shown by his high speed travel during daytime traffic.”

Espinoza was previously ordered to be held without bail in a 2022 case, she wrote.

While his arraignment is set for this month, no other dates have been set.

The Chase

Española Police Officer Andrew O’Hara wrote in a statement of probable cause for Espinoza’s arrest that he pulled up behind a Jeep where it was reported the man and woman had been passed out for 45 minutes. After O’Hara knocked on the window, Espinoza allegedly started the vehicle, put it in drive, moved forward, put it in reverse, then accelerated, pushing his patrol car back 30-50 feet.

Officers pursued him as he allegedly drove 90 to 95 miles an hour through Española, running red lights, headed to State Road 68. At Mile Marker 11, he turned off the road and into the brush for two miles before getting stuck trying to climb the side of the hill, he wrote.

Espinoza and a woman then fled from the Jeep, which caught on fire as it was stuck. O’Hara found Espinoza found hiding in the brush after being chased, he wrote.