In traffic stop chaos, New Mexico officer fires at van containing Tennessee family

A pair of New Mexico state police officers are under investigation and a mother and her 14-year-old son are facing charges after a routine traffic stop turned to chaos with the teen physically confronting one officer and another firing shots at a minivan carrying children.

Details of the recent stop emerged when KRQE-TV obtained dashboard camera video of the police cruiser that pulled the family of six over for speeding near the northern New Mexico tourist town of Taos.

But despite indications that the woman was from Memphis, efforts to locate her locally were unsuccessful Monday. The address given to New Mexico authorities was 1000 Cherry Road -- the address of Harding Academy School of Theology. A woman who answered the phone at the school confirmed that as the school's address, but when asked if they were familiar with the New Mexico case, she immediately said no comment and would not elaborate.

The Oct. 28 footage from New Mexico showed driver Oriana Farrell disobey the officer's orders and drive off during the stop.

A 39-year-old Tennessee mother, Farrell was pulled over again and the video shows two of her five children get out of the vehicle to confront the officer.

The mother and a teenage son were arrested after a brief chase. She has since been released. It's unclear whether her son remains in custody.

Farrell's attorney didn't immediately return a call.

Lt. Emmanuel Gutierrez, public information officer for the New Mexico State Police, said in an e-mail Monday that Farrell's records from last month show an address of 1000 Cherry Road. The woman who answered the telephone at Harding Academy School of Theology said they cannot provide information on faculty, staff or students.

Other efforts to trace her locally were also unsuccessful. A 2009 telephone directory shows Oriana Farrell living at an address in the Easthill subdivision in Bartlett.

Emily Milstead, who said she has rented the Easthill house since October, 2011, said she had heard about a woman who fit Farrell's description living there, but she did not know the woman.

Milstead said she was unfamiliar with her residence having any connection to the case until reporters began showing up looking for Farrell.

'I had no knowledge of anything about the residence, and this piece and that piece going together at all,' Milstead said. 'I didn't even know those people.'

There also are indications that Farrell has been connected to the Ebony Homeschoolers, 'a Christ-centered homeschool support group, (that) has a special heart for the African-American homeschooler. Our primary purpose is to serve as a resource for education, information, and encouragement,' according to the organization's website.

The group's website and several other links for homeschool organizations list Oriana Lee or Oriana Lee Farrell, as a group leader with Ebony.

Calls to the organization and e-mails sent through the group's website seeking information on Farrell were not immediately answered.

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