Cop Shop

Police found a suspected sexual predator hiding in a closet on Wednesday and a missing 14-year-old New Mexico girl who is pregnant with his child.

Frank Lerma Gamez, 37, of Mesa was arrested in the 300 block of East 10th Avenue about 1 a.m., police said. Police first learned about Gamez earlier this week when a woman saw a teenage girl in an apartment complex who looked like a girl on a missing persons poster in a local store.

Police went to the apartment complex and found a 14-year-old who at first denied her real name, but eventually told officers. Police confirmed that the girl was listed as a runaway juvenile from New Mexico and learned that she is six months pregnant, and she admitted that Gamez is the baby’s father.

Investigators figured out that the girl met Gamez on the Internet and the two sent text messages to each other. Gamez bought the girl a bus ticket to Arizona, and she has lived with him ever since, police said.

After Gamez was arrested, police learned he also has a warrant in Colorado for a similar incident involving a 16-year-old.
When police found Gamez in a closet, he at first refused to come out, but was zapped with a Taser and taken into custody. He was taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries he suffered while trying to flee police.

Gamez was released from the hospital and booked into Mesa City Jail on three counts of sexual conduct with a minor, one count of unlawful imprisonment, one count of resisting arrest and one count of aggravated assault on a police officer.

Posted in: Mesa |

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