Category Archives: New Mexico

Las Vegas: 2 killed, 1 critical in DWI accident near Las Vegas | KOB.com

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Two people are dead and six people are injured following a drunk driving crash Friday night along northbound Interstate 25 just south of Las Vegas, according to New Mexico State Police.

State Police said seven people were inside the vehicle when it rolled over. The passangers’ ages range from 12 to 22 years old.

Police say 14-year old Kayla Martinez of Las Vegas and 12-year old Aleandra Sanchez of Villanueva were pronounced dead.

The remaining injured passengers were taken to area hospitals. One of the passengers, 21-year-old Rubio Reyes, remains in critical condition.

Wayne Lovato, 17, faces DWI and vehicular homicide charges.

via 2 killed in DWI accident near Las Vegas | KOB.com.

Farmington, NM: DWI suspect fleeing police dies in crash | KOB.com

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Authorities say a 37-year-old motorist suspected of DWI is dead after crashing into other vehicles while fleeing Farmington police.

Police say that after receiving reports of a motorist staggering around in a Walmart parking lot and opening a container of alcohol, an officer spotted the driver Thursday afternoon getting gas and tried to prevent him from driving away.

Police say the man, identified as Ladell Light, appeared to be impaired and physically resisted the officer by fighting his way back into his car and speeding off.

Another officer following Light’s car reported that it swerved into oncoming traffic, sideswiped a vehicle, and finally crashed into two trucks at an intersection. Police say Light was the only one seriously hurt and he died hours later at a hospital.

via Driver fleeing Farmington police dies in crash | KOB.com.

Albuquerque: DWI suspected in fatal motorcycle crash | sfgate.com

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Albuquerque police are accusing a woman who hit and killed a motorcyclist of driving drunk.

The crash happened Friday evening as 51-year-old Peter Lafond was passing through an intersection on the city’s west side on his motorcycle. He was wearing a helmet.

Police spokesman Officer Robert Gibbs says that’s when a car driven by 24-year-old Amanda Casaus pulled into the motorcyclist’s lane and collided with him. Lafond died at the scene.

Gibbs says Casaus tried to flee on foot but was quickly taken into custody. He says she was found to be intoxicated at the time of the crash and was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center on a charge of vehicular homicide.

The intersection was closed Friday evening as police investigated.

via Police: DWI suspected in fatal motorcycle crash – SFGate.

Albuquerque: Chronic drunk driver calls police on himself | cbsnews.com

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There’s something to be said for knowing when you’ve had too much to drink. Although if you’re flat on your back, it’s probably already a little too late.

Authorities say that’s what happened to an Albuquerque man who was arrested – again – for drunken driving, after he called police on himself.

KRQE-TV reports that Antonio Candelaria recently was arrested when officers found him drunk in his driveway and lying on the ground with his foot stuck in his motorcycle.

Police say the 50-year-old had called police for help after getting his foot stuck.

According to police, Candelaria’s breath test results came out above .16, which is twice the legal limit in New Mexico.

Court records showed that Candelaria had a long list of DWI arrests and a handful of convictions.

via “DUI Guy” calls police on himself – Crimesider – CBS News.

Socorro, NM: Woman dies in I-25 crash; suspected drunk driver arrested | KOB.com

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Reyes Duran

Reyes Duran

A suspected drunk driver who police say caused a fatal accident on I-25 near Socorro late Monday has been arrested.

State police say Bertha Sanchez, 42, died in the three-vehicle crash on I-25 near Socorro.

We’re told she died after Reyes Duran, 21, hit another car carrying four people.

Sanchez was one of those passengers – she died at the scene.

Several other people were taken to hospitals with injuries.

via Woman dies in I-25 crash; suspected drunk driver arrested | KOB.com.

Albuquerque (UPDATED): Toddler loses fight for life after suspected drunk driving crash by 20-year-old | krqe.com

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August 31 Update from kob.com –

A two year old boy injured in an alleged DWI crash Saturday has died.

APD says Vicente Griego’s family took the boy off life support Thursday.

Griego suffered a broken neck and brain injuries after the car in which he was riding was hit by Mariano Salaz, Jr., 20.

According to Albuquerque police, Salaz’s blood alcohol level was at least twice the legal limit Saturday when he hit two vehicles and a police cruiser on Coors Boulevard near Quail Road in northwest Albuquerque.

Salaz is due back in court on September 9. At that time, it is expected he will be charged with vehicular homicide, and a higher bond will be set, APD says.

Salaz is currently out of jail on bond.

Original story follows –

The parents of a 2-year-old boy injured in a drunk-driving crash are devastated and angry after the crash left their toddler on life support

“He’s starting to breathe on his own, but he’s still having complications and right now we don’t know where we stand with him, whether he’s going to live or not,” Jonathan Griego said.

Jonathan Griego was praying Saturday night. His 2-year-old son Vicente can not breathe on his own has bleeding on his brain and is on life support.

Police say Mariano Salaz, 20, was drunk when he rammed into the back of Griego’s car around 1 a.m. Saturday.

Little Vicente was in the back seat.

Police say Salaz took off down the road hitting and injuring another driver.

When police tried to stop him they say he then rammed a cop car.

read more here > Toddler fights for life after DWI crash.

Albuquerque: Fatal crash on Isleta after 17-year-old rolls Tahoe. Alcohol suspected a factor | KOB.com

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One passenger in the Chevrolet Tahoe that rolled on Isleta near Raymac Saturday evening was killed.

The 17-year-old driver and another passenger are at the University of New Mexico hospital with injuries.

Bernalillo Bounty Deputies said they believe the teenager was speeding on southbound Isleta, then lost control of the vehicle, hitting a fence and a power pole. The impact caused the SUV to rollover.

The passenger, who was seated in the back, was pronounced dead at the scene. The person has not yet been identified.

Deputies also said alcohol contributed to the crash.

An arrest warrant and blood warrant are being secured for the juvenile driver.

Power was out for more than 500 customers in the area as a a result of the struck power pole.

PNM told KOB Eyewitness News 4 that another pole also fell because of the strain from the first pole.

via Rollover crash on Isleta fatal | KOB.com.

Cascade Locks, OR: Drivers box in DUII suspect on I-84 after crash | kgw.com

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Drivers box in DUII suspect on I-84 after crash

John M. Clegg

Cascade Locks, OR: Four drivers boxed in a DUII suspect on Interstate 84 Friday afternoon to keep him from driving away after a crash, police said.

Police received several complaints just before 4 p.m. about a man who had crashed his Jeep into a guardrail and was driving erratically on I-84 near Dodson, according to Oregon State Police Lt. Gregg Hastings.

The tires on the left side Jeep were flattened, but the man kept driving for about ten miles, Hastings said. The vehicle finally came to a stop on the inside shoulder of the freeway, near milepost 46.

Four other drivers then surrounded the Jeep with their vehicles to prevent the driver from leaving the scene before police could arrive.

Troopers arrived at the scene by 4:12 p.m. and arrested 25-year-old John M. Clegg of New Mexico for DUII, reckless driving and hit-and-run. He was jailed at the Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility.

via Drivers box in DUII suspect on I-84 after crash | kgw.com Portland.

Albuquerque: 29-year-old arrested for 7th DUI, speeding 50+ mph over limit, child abuse | KOB.com

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Matthew Sweeten

Bernalillo County Sheriff deputies arrested a man for driving more than 50 miles an hour over the speed limit – with two children in the car.

They tell us Matthew Sweeten, 29, is accused of driving 88 miles an hour in a 35-mile-an-hour zone on the 4th of July.

BCSO deputies pulled him over on the holiday near 4th and Alameda. They say he looked intoxicated and failed field sobriety tests.

Sweeten had his 13-year-old daughter and 6-month-old niece in the car with him.

This is Sweeten’s 7th DWI.

He is also being charged with child abuse.

via Police arrest man, 29, for 7th DWI | KOB.com.

Albuquerque: Woman hit, killed by convicted drunk driver | KOB.com

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Branden Clark

Branden Clark

A convicted drunk driver allegedly drove drunk again this past weekend, only this time, caused a crash that killed a woman.

Branden Clark faces vehicular homicide and child abuse charges, as three kids were riding with him at the time of the crash.

Kathy Atkins, the victim’s mother, told KOB Eyewitness News 4 she is angry because her daughter is gone and her family is paying the price of someone else’s poor decision to drink and drive.

“She’s my youngest daughter, my best friend, and I’ll miss her forever,” Atkins said.

Atkins described her daughter, 36-year-old Debra Valencia, who was killed in a car crash Saturday afternoon by someone allegedly driving drunk.

“It was unbelievable to me that anybody could be that intoxicated at 3 o’clock in the afternoon,” Atkins said.

Clark was intoxicated three times the legal limit when he hit the car Valencia was driving near Lomas and Louisiana, police said.

The mother of two was returning from her first day at a new job and was only a few short blocks from home when she was hit.

Clark has been caught drinking and driving back in 2008.

read more here > Albuquerque woman hit, killed by convicted drunk driver | KOB.com.

Albuquerque: Alleged drunk driver meets prisoner transport van … up close and personal

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Accused drunk driver crashes into city van

Michael Means, 21

A man says he does not remember what happened Saturday night, but police say the accused drunk driver crashed right into a city van.

Police say Michael Means, 21, was drunk late Saturday night when he hit an empty prisoner transport van parked in front of the police station downtown.

They say Means then took off with a flat tire and air bags deployed in his truck, but a cop caught up with him nearby.

read the full krqe.com story >  Accused drunk driver crashes into city van.

Hobbs, NM: Man wants to experience NASCAR racing. Chooses local horse track after closing: DUI!

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Drunk-driver laps Casino's horse track

Drunk-driver laps Casino’s horse track

He told police he wanted to pretend he was a race-car driver. The problem is police think he was very drunk when he drove onto a horse track in Hobbs and started doing laps.

It wasn’t an average call that the Hobbs Police Department responded to just after 1 a.m. Friday.

“Nothing like this has happened,” Hobbs Officer Mike Stone said.  “The casino’s been open for several years, and we’ve never had this type of issue there before.”

Police said Martin McDonald, 28, of Fort Worth, Texas, broke through a gate at the Zia Park Casino and drove his pickup onto its horse racing track.

“He told a couple of the officers that he just thought it would be fun to go out there on the track and drive like he was in NASCAR,” said Stone. But it would be a while after they spotted him before police would speak with McDonald.

Officers tried to pull over his Dodge pickup on the dark track, but he ignored their lights and sirens. The casino’s security guard told police McDonald had driven several laps around the track at a high rate of speed before they arrived, and by the time police got there he wasn’t stopping.

read more here > DWI chase rounds and rounds horse track.

Albuquerque: Wrong-way drunk driver gets 51 years in November fatal crash | kasa.com

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A wrong way drunk driver who killed two people in November will likely spend the rest of his life in prison.

Howard Haceesa, 35, was sentenced to 51 years behind bars Tuesday.

In November of last year Haceesa was headed south on U.S. 550 near Blanco Trading Post when he swerved into the northbound lanes of traffic and collided with an SUV.

Clifford Comanche, 43 and Natalia Fernandez, 50, were both killed in that crash.

In May Haceesa admitted to driving drunk and pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide. This was his fifth DWI conviction, which allowed for the longer prison sentence

via Wrong-way drunk driver gets 51-years.

Albuquerque: 20th DWI arrest for Albuquerque man. Yep. 20th!

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MugShot George J Toledo Albuquerque, New Mexico

George J Toledo

Police say a man who has been arrested for drunk driving 19 times has been arrested again.

An employee at the T-Mobile store on Menaul and San Mateo says he spotted 62-year-old George Toledo inside his store yesterday, reeking of liquor. He called police around 9:00 a.m., when he saw Toldeo go into his car and chug a beer.

“He had a hard time finding where his feet met the ground,” said Justin Huffmon, who called police.

Huffmon had just opened the doors to the T-mobile shop. That’s when he says Toledo came stumbling in to pay a bill. When he came staggering out to the parking lot, Huffmon says Toledo kept pouring the drinks behind the wheel of his car.

“He had two flasks of Canadian Mist. One of them was pretty much done. It looked like he cracked the other one open,” said Huffmon.

Huffmon called police. He snapped a picture while an officer gave Toledo a field sobriety test.

“When they pulled him out, he just urinated all over himself. It was just really bad,” said Toledo.

via 20th DWI arrest for Albuquerque man.