Photo: Johan Nilsson / Getty Images
A five-vehicle pileup left a retired Las Vegas firefighter and a Santa Fe police officer dead after a pursuit, where there were still no arrests related to the event, in which the kidnapping suspect had apparently fled the accident.
Paul Joye, Interim Police Chief of Santa Fe, said that officers are investigating what he himself called rumors that it is a woman in a white car who was fleeing, who said that she was the victim of a robbery and kidnapping that caused the pursuit on the opposite direction of the Interstate 25.
“I am aware that these rumors are circulating,” said Joye. Likewise, the New Mexico State Police is aware of what was indicated by the police chief.
At this time, refused to describe the sequence of events leading up to the crash just north of the Old Pecos Trail exit of I-25, i.e. who hit who and in what direction the two Santa Fe officers’ cars were going when they collided.
It is also speculated that he collided with the white vehicle, a van driven by a man from Las Vegas and a blue car. What the authorities were able to say is that at first the white vehicle was traveling north in the southbound lanes, then crossed the median and began heading south in the southbound lanes. northbound lanes.
The chief of police said he hopes the update on the investigation of the road accident.
State Police identified the dead driver of the truck as Frank Lovato, of 62 years old, who started his career as a firefighter alone with 18 years old and was described by the acting boss of Las Vegas, Steven Spann, as “the exact definition of a public servant.”
Officer Robert Durán, from 43 years, was identified as another of the dead. Both officials were declared deceased at the scene by the Office of the State Medical Investigator. Duran left behind his wife and two teenage children. Joye said that he was “highly respected and loved by his peers.”
Police officers Ray Wilson and Dusty Francisco did not respond to press questions regarding about who was driving the white car leading the chase or if they are still looking for a kidnapping suspect.
“According to witnesses, an unidentified male subject fled the area on foot,” Wilson wrote in a press release Thursday night. “He was described as wearing only a red shirt, black pants, and a black jacket.”
Furthermore, indicated that the authorities have a false lead on a suspicious man at the beginning of the investigation. An alert was issued to area police naming a male subject as a probable suspect, accused of kidnapping a woman with a knife in Santa Fe, stealing her vehicle and fleeing north on I-25 when officers saw the vehicle.
“This individual was contacted by New Mexico State Police investigators and, after a thorough investigation, he was cleared and ruled out as a suspect”, Wilson said. “NMSP is committed to arresting and charging the person who caused this tragic accident,” he concluded.
State police ask anyone with information related to the investigation to call Bureau of Investigation Sgt. Andrew Jorgenson at 505-316-3871 or Agent Wyatt Harwell at 505-316-5254.
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