Albuquerque man faces DWI homicide charge for crash

Albuquerque man faces DWI homicide charge for crash

A man, who bystanders reportedly held after he ran from a crash that left one person dead overnight, is facing a DWI homicide charge.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Police arrested a man accused of driving drunk and causing a three-vehicle crash that left one person dead overnight.

Albuquerque police arrested 21-year-old Jesus Sandoval-Martinez on charges of DWI homicide, reckless driving, leaving the scene of a deadly accident and failure to obey a traffic control device.

An investigation found that Martinez was reportedly driving a black pickup north on Coors when he came upon a red light at the intersection with Montaño. Police camera footage reportedly corroborated witness statements that the pickup didn’t slow down for the red light and slammed into a black Tesla and a Toyota Corolla traveling west on Montaño.

According to witnesses, Martinez climbed out of the pickup and ran away from the scene. The witnesses say they chased him down and held him in a nearby parking lot until officers arrived. They said he was slurring and showed signs of impairment.

Officers arrived and reportedly found “several open alcoholic containers” in the vehicle. Some of them were empty.

First responders took Martinez to UNM Hospital, as well as two people in the black Tesla. The driver of the Tesla died from their injuries. Their passenger is still in critical condition.

The driver of the Toyota reportedly sustained minor injuries.

An on-call DWI officer assessed Martinez for DWI at UNMH and reportedly determined he was impaired.