Sheriff’s deputies rescue man stuck in well

CHAVES COUNTY, N.M. — What began as a routine call for deputies Monday night became a three-hour rescue mission to extract a man from a well.

Deputies at 5:19 p.m. received a call from property owners in the 3800 block of West McGaffey Street, just outside of Roswell, who claimed a man entered a shed on their property that housed a well.

“They… just called and said ‘hey, there is a guy trespassing on the property.’ I guess they had seen him go inside there,” said Mike Herrington, Chaves County sheriff.

When deputies reached the location, they discovered a very different situation.

“When the deputies got there, they actually observed that the guy had fallen down into the well itself. It’s a large hole that was big enough for the person to be laying in there. He fell 40 feet, about three stories is what they said, down hit the ground,” Herrington said.

Crews from the Roswell Fire Department, the Sierra Volunteer Fire Department and additional deputies were dispatched to the scene. Two firefighters on ropes and a gurney were eventually lowered down to get the 48-year-old man out of the well.

“Once they got him hooked up there was no way to raise the bed out so they put him on a gurney and used the ladder truck to raise him out of the hole,” Herrington said.

The man was then airlifted by helicopter to a hospital to receive treatment for his injuries, including possible broken ribs. It is not known whether the man had gone down into the well intentionally or by accident.

No trespassing signs had been clearly posted on the property, and Herrington said once the man recovers he will likely be cited for trespassing.