Residents react to news of jail escapees

When news of eight inmates escaping the Curry County Adult Detention Center reached Valentina Gonzalez, she said she had a swarm of thoughts, all involving the safety of the people around her.

Gonzalez, a Friona mother and Clovis Community College student, said she believes the escapees will turn to negotiation.

“They can’t run forever,” Gonzalez said. “I think they’re going to negotiate but to do that they need something of value to the people chasing them. ... I was afraid they’d go to a school and take hostages.”

Gonzales said she was also concerned that an escapee would come to the college where there are people and steal a car. After she learned that two of the inmates were captured Monday night in Texas Monday, she said she was even more worried.

Nathan Deuran said he was worried as soon as he heard about the escape and has remained so.

Deuran, 23, said he was more worried for his wife and a 4-year-old daughter.

“They are just some pretty crazy people,” Deuran said.

He also said the family was worried about the safety of their home because, he said, some of the escapees were in jail for home invasions and burglaries.

“I haven’t gotten a security system for my house yet,” he said. “But I’m seriously thinking about it now.”

Jody Tong’s family has done a thorough security check on their home.

“We used to have our windows open but they’re closed and locked now,” Tong said. “We make sure everything is locked.”

Tong, of Clovis, sat her two daughters down and talked to them about the situation.

“We showed them the pictures so they’d know what they looked like,” Tong said. “We explained what was going on and told them to be careful.”