Vehicle driver charged with vehicular homicide after passenger drowns in Mora County
Aug. 9—A Guadalupita man was charged Monday with vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident after police said he attempted to drive his pickup truck through a flooded roadway in Mora County over the weekend.
John Vasquez was driving his friend Benjamin Torres back to Guadalupita on Sunday afternoon after they drank a few beers together in Mora, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. While driving on N.M. 434, Vasquez and Torres came across a flash flood on the roadway at milepost 7, the affidavit said.
According to the affidavit, Vasquez, 30, told police he saw a couple of vehicles go through the flooded area and thought he could make it. A news release from state police Tuesday stated witnesses saw Vasquez drive around several vehicles that had stopped due to the flooded roadway.
When he attempted to cross, Vasquez told state police the current turned his truck sideways and flooded the vehicle up to his and Torres' knees, according to the affidavit. Vasquez said he tried to put the vehicle in reverse, but was unable to escape.
Vasquez got out before the truck flipped over and floated away. Torres, 64, could not exit the vehicle, according to the affidavit. His body was found inside the truck hours after the incident.
The pickup was found 100 yards from the area Vasquez tried to drive through, according to the news release.
Vasquez told officers he followed the truck but could not swim under what he said was four feet of moving water to save his friend, according to the affidavit.
State police officers were dispatched to the incident Sunday at about 2:30 p.m., the news release stated. A swift water rescue unit arrived on the scene and provided Vasquez with medical assistance. However, according to the affidavit, Vasquez left and began to walk upstream.
The unit's captain told a state police officer he could smell "a strong odor of alcohol" on Vasquez, the affidavit stated.
Vasquez's mother was present at the scene after her son had already left, according to the affidavit. She advised police it was Vasquez's vehicle that was stuck in the rushing water and provided law enforcement with his date of birth — which in turn allowed police to identify him, the affidavit stated.
State police said they could not confirm whether Vasquez's mother found out about the incident and went to the scene, or if she stumbled upon it by happenstance.
Police said they tried to recover the truck, but the rushing waters proved too strong. According to the news release, officers had to wait until about 7:30 p.m. for the water to recede.
Once they recovered the truck and identified Torres' body, police found a case of glass Budweiser bottles on the vehicle's floorboard, according to the affidavit.
Vasquez later was found at his residence by state police, the news release stated. He was taken to the department's office in Las Vegas, N.M., and told law enforcement he left the scene because he was bleeding and had been traumatized by watching his friend die, according to the affidavit.
Vasquez was taken into custody Sunday evening and was booked into the San Miguel County jail at about 3 a.m. Monday, state police spokesman Ray Wilson said.
The drowning was the fourth in recent weeks in the area near the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon burn scar, where consistent and heavy rains have flooded rivers, creeks and roadways. Three West Texas residents drowned in July in fast-moving floodwaters near Tecolote Canyon.