Santa Fe man faces felony charges after Friday road rage incident

Nicholas Gilmore, The Santa Fe New Mexican
·2 min read
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Apr. 22—A case of road rage Friday evening on Interstate 25 escalated into a shootout between two drivers in Santa Fe, according to charges filed against one of the men.

No one was injured in the incident, Santa Fe police confirmed Monday.

Fernando Reyes Martinez was accused by police of exiting his vehicle on the St. Francis Drive offramp and brandishing a gun while approaching a family in another vehicle, according to a statement of probable cause filed in the case.

The other driver — identified by police as Todd Sanchez — told police he was "in fear for his family's life," so he retrieved his gun and fired two shots into the air before Martinez returned fire, according to the statement.

Martinez, 37, faces three felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court. He was booked into the Santa Fe County jail early Saturday and remained there Monday.

Sanchez did not face any charges in the incident.

Martinez told police Sanchez — who was driving a pickup — "forced him off the road onto the shoulder" while both were exiting the interstate at St. Francis Drive, police wrote in the statement. Martinez said he exited his SUV on the shoulder of the offramp and contended Sanchez "began to shoot at him" so "he fired his gun back at him," police wrote.

Sanchez told police Martinez "was not allowing him to exit on the off-ramp," and that Martinez then exited his SUV and brandished his gun while walking back toward the pickup, the statement says.

Sanchez, 39, told police he attempted to back up but ended up "jack-knifing" a trailer he was pulling, so he grabbed his gun and "fired a couple of warning shots" into the air, police wrote.

Sanchez alleged Martinez fired back in the direction of his pickup, which also held his wife and teenage daughter, the statement says.

Sanchez's wife dialed 911 at a nearby gas station, police wrote. Martinez told police he could not dial 911 after the incident because "he did not have his phone on him, and it was dead at home," the statement said.