On December 21, 2021, at 8:50 a.m., officers with the Las Cruces Police Department responded to 765 Williams Street to assist the Las Cruces Fire Department with a raging residential blaze.
On arrival, officers were told that a “90-year-old man” lived in the apartment where the fire started, and it was unclear whether the man had made it out. Shortly thereafter, one of the property managers for the apartment complex arrived on scene and informed officers that the resident — Byron Anthony Hicks — was fine, and that he was standing outside watching the activity.
Watch the video to see what happened next.
Mr. Hicks was ultimately taken into protective custody and transported to a local area hospital, where a nurse made contact with Mr. Hicks’ wife — “who wanted nothing to with him.” A hospital psychiatric evaluation concluded that Mr. Hicks’s delusions were the result of substance abuse rather than the result of another mental illness, and Mr. Hicks was arrested and charged with arson.
On February 11, 2022, all charges against Mr. Hicks in the Las Cruces Magistrate Court were dismissed without prejudice, however Doña Ana County District Attorney’s office spokesperson Roxanne Garcia-McElmell informed Real World Police that Mr. Hicks is the subject of an active grand jury investigation. If the grand jury finds probable cause that Mr. Hicks committed one or more crimes, he will face prosecution in New Mexico District Court, a higher court than the magistrate court where Mr. Hicks was initially charged.
Note: if you watched our recent video titled “Took Too Much,” don’t miss the end of this video.
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/r/realworldpolice
@realworldpolice
@What You Haven’t Seen
00:00 Highlights
01:44 Police arrive on scene
04:21 “LADDER!”
05:34 Ladder rescue
11:44 That’s him right there
13:34 Confession
16:27 We saved some lives today
18:39 Owner of the building
30:26 He’s got Air Force One on standby
34:03 Protective custody
37:49 Easiest arson you’ve ever had
40:34 “Boobies for me”
41:07 Don’t touch me!
48:58 Joking with the nurses
53:12 Coffee hunt
54:50 Arrest
56:05 “Took Too Much” throwback @What You Haven’t Seen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cupMrPikoe8 ** (Disclaimer: This video content is intended for educational and informational purposes only) **
Ew. Watching this video just made me so happy that I don’t live in dirty arse New Mexico. They are all so unprofessional and janky!!
DAVE NAVARRO THANK YOU
Man thats tough. Not having somewhere to go when your place burnt down. Where i am all the flats are owned by large housing companies and if fires break out they put you in another flat until your place is fixed.
Wow! Another mentally ill homeless vet! America’s failed “heroes.â€
Epic
Damn this encounter had everything! I was entertained the whole time!!
God forbid first responders aren’t polite to the criminal who could’ve killed entire families with a single act. I’m so outraged 🤬🤬🤬
Very sad, the poor guy was obviously not in his right mind. To the officer who kept referring to this elderly gentleman as the local weirdo, your disrespect made you look like the local idiot. Not so many years ago that old guy was probably more badass that you will ever be! Shame on you!
Thank the Lord no one was killed or hurt!! I honestly feel terrible for that old man… He was talking about his grandmother, the president and some other things that to me he has either Alzheimer's or dementia… Very sad to see someone like that and in such a crisis!! I understand that his daughter was paying for his apartment but I really think she should have put him in a nursing home!! But this most definitely is NOT a funny situation..even tho some police were laughing…this is an extremely serious situation…they wouldn't be laughing if it were someone in their family that they loved!! But like I said thank God no one was killed or hurt and hopefully now this gentleman will be able to at least get some help for whatever maybe wrong with him!! My thoughts and prayers go out to him!! ðŸ™ðŸ˜¢
😂😂 The old man said is that usual and the cop is like yes cause he was talking about Jesus😂 lmao
You should make people unidentifiable in the videos because you are really violating people’s privacy on all these videos.
Sad. They should be glad the old guy didn't have an episode like what started at the end of the video in the hospital, while on the fire scene. Alzheimer's is no joke, and unless you've dealt with someone with dementia from Alzheimer's most people just don't understand the difficulty and danger they can be to themselves as well as others.
57:20 “is that usual?†ðŸ˜ðŸ˜‚
I wonder if Paul ever got his lunch.
Those girls at the ER desk come across incredibly unprofessional and annoying, the other guy calling the man "an old weirdo" is just disrespectful when he's clearly got some pretty bad issues.
I'M GLAD EVERY ONE WAS SAFE, BUT I HAVE A COUPLE OF ISSUES. FIRST. I DIDN'T LIKE HOW THAT FIRE COMMANDER IN THE WHITE SHIRT CALLED THE ELDERLY GENTLEMAN A LOCAL WIERDO,AND WAS LAUGHING AT HIM. THAT WAS VERY UNPROFESSIONAL. INSTEAD OF THINKING OF HOW THEY CAN HELP HIM. NOW FOR THE COP'S. SERIOUSLY. LEG RESTRAINT'S. HE COULD BARELY WALK. WHAT DID YOU THINK HE WAS GOING TO DO, SPRINT OUT OF THERE LIKE AN OLYMPIC TRACK STAR. I UNDERSTAND IT'S PROTOCAL TO RESTRAIN A SUSPECT IN SOME WAY TO PREVENT THEM FROM POSSIBLY TRYING SOMETHING. I WAS IN LAW ENFORCEMENT MY SELF, SO I'M NOT JUST TALKING, AND I'VE SEEN THOSE RESTRAINT'S CAUSE SOME PEOPLE TO TRIP THAT CAN BE DANGEROUS FOR THE ELDERLY. BUT SERIOUSLY. I THINK THIS ELDERLY GENTLEMAN COULD HAVE BEEN TREATED WITH A LITTLE MORE DIGNITY. HE OBVIOUSLY HAS MENTAL ISSUES. HE CAN'T PHYSICALLY HARM YOU, AND HE COULD POSSIBLY BE A VETERAN. I KNOW HE STARTED THE FIRE, AND PEOPLE THERE COULD HAVE BEEN HURT, BUT IN HIS STATE OF MIND. IT'S POSSIBLE HE DIDN'T REALIZE WHAT HE WAS DOING. I REALLY HOPE YOU GUY'S GOT HIM THE HELP HE NEDDED WITH OUT CALLING HIM NAME'S, LAUGHING AT HIM, OR RESTRAINING HIM, AND NO I'M NOT YELLING OR MAD. I ALWAY'S TEXT IN CAP'S.
49:59 inappropriate conversation in the ER especially with patients not feeling well 😕 ha-ha I forgot to laugh you winnie 😠and then continues to use curse words and show videos .. gross!
Dave Navarro is beautiful! â¤
Every one grows older.
Every day.
THE NUMBERS MASON, WHAT DO THEY MEAN?
If you guys haven’t caught on yet. The old LiT iT. I think the officer says it a couple times.
And God bless all the other people and thank God nobody got hurt
Someone make a song out of this I let it God bless the 90-year-old man
Wow, never have I ever heard such a dramatic cop in all my life. That cop was running around going bla bla bla saying the same shit over and over again. Someone give that idiot a big pat on the back because that's what he's looking for and then sew his mouth shut.
Sometimes as an officer you might forget the small victories. Lives were saved this day thanks to your actions, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem.
Kind weird how the officer handcuffed his legs like he’s old and already walks slow so what’s the point?
The dementia ridden 72 year old arsonist then asked “is that usual?†referring to the man on mass amounts of pcp screaming about Jesus, and then the story concluded
Gotta thank Pfizer© or their wonderful SSRI's