New Mexico man in front-end loader chase shot by deputies

PORTALES, N.M. – New Mexico authorities say a man who used a front-end loader to try to flip an SUV and led deputies on a chase is hospitalized after being shot by sheriff’s deputies.

State police said in a statement that the confrontation happened in the small city of Portales near Texas.

The statement issued Tuesday said James Wallace McFarlin, 48, was shot Monday by Roosevelt County deputies after refusing to stop the front-end loader and driving it through fences.

McFarlin was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries at a hospital in Lubbock, Texas.

No information was released on a possible motive.

The Eastern New Mexico News reports that resident Juan Espinoza said McFarlin was a neighbour and was using the loader to flip his own vehicle and break windows in his own home.