2 new state police officers hired to patrol Grants area

By Jim Maniaci
Cibola County Bureau

MILAN — The shortage of New Mexico State Police Department officers in the Gallup District and its Grants Sub-District has been cut by two since Jan. 3.

That's when Officers Rudy Graham, 26, and Randy Larcher, 31, officially went on patrol, having finished the 4-month academy in Santa Fe in mid-December.

For Graham it's a matter of returning to the area near his hometown after spending 6.5 years in the dangerous work of being a forward observer for the U.S. Army Rangers. He graduated from Gallup High School in 1998, then entered the military. He ended up in the 2nd Ranger Battalion, based in Fort Lewis, Wash., and spent five months in Iraq and 20 months in Afghanistan.

"Coming out of the military, the state police filled in what I was used to, the camaraderie and discipline," he said.

"We are from here and my wife wanted to come back. I've known her since she was born," he said. He and Adriana have a daughter, Raine, who is 20 months old. His hobbies include shooting, hunting, camping, rappelling "and all that outdoor stuff," he said.

Graham said so far in his short NMSPD career, no particular case has stood out.

His companion officer said one incident definitely stands out a drunk driver going the wrong way at Mile Post 73 (near the Bluewater interchange) on Interstate 40 and not wanting to pull over because he thought he was on old Route 66 (State Highway 122).

Larcher said the driver was headed east in the westbound lanes going about 90 mph.

The new officer said he was with his training officer, Craig Vandever. "When we came over the hill, he was coming right at us and we swerved." But Officer Scott Merrill had joined the attempt to halt the wayward speeder. He managed to push the errant driver's fast-moving vehicle to the right and off the pavement, thus ending the potentially fatal situation.

"Luckily there was a break in the traffic," the new officer added. It took more than three miles to accomplish the stop and arrest.

Larcher is a native of El Paso, Tex., but spent most of his life in Las Cruces. He graduated from Mayfield High School in 1993 and earned his bachelor of arts in history in 2005 from New Mexico State University's main campus. In August, he entered the academy in Santa Fe.

Being in law enforcement, he said, "is something I've wanted to do my whole life." This is because of the good image he has of peace officers; so he wanted to become one himself.

Taking action on his dream was triggered by catching shoplifters at a Target discount store in Las Cruces, he said.

He and his wife April have been married five years and have a seven-month-old daughter, Paige. After high school, Larcher worked for about four years at various jobs. He also attended NMSU for one year.

From 1997-99 went on his mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serving in Japan. He said he speaks what he considers intermediate level Japanese. By the time he came back to Las Cruces, his academic credits at NMSU had expired, so he started over.

— To contact reporter Jim Maniaci in Grants, telephone 285-6184 or (505) 870-7775 (cellular).