2 UNM students killed in crash near Old Town
Two others hurt when car is hit by stolen pickup; truck driver in custody
Two University of New Mexico students were killed and two others critically injured after a stolen truck T-boned a car they were in late Friday in the Old Town area, according to police.
Albuquerque police hadn’t released the names of the victims Saturday night because not all of their families had been notified. All four crash victims were UNM students, said Dianne Anderson, a spokeswoman for the university.
The Pi Beta Phi sorority at UNM on its Facebook page said that member Briana Hillard was killed in the crash and another member, Julia Thompson, was injured.
“Our two sisters were in a devastating car accident last night, and a memorial service for Briana will be planned with more information coming soon,” the post reads. “Please keep both families in your thoughts and prayers.”
Police confirmed late Saturday that Matt
Grant was the other student killed in the crash.
Around 11:40 p.m. Friday, the pickup truck going north slammed into the sedan, leaving the car overturned near the intersection of Rio Grande and Bellamah NW. Simon Drobik, an Albuquerque police spokesman, said the truck was driven recklessly and the driver was completely at fault in the crash. He said police weren’t chasing the truck at the time of the crash.
The driver of the truck, who police identified as Joshua Dominic Leal, 21, and passenger, Miguel Hernandez, 16, fled from the vehicle and were arrested.
Leal was booked into the Bernalillo County jail on $220,000 bail on vehicular homicide, child abuse, larceny of a firearm, tampering with evidence and unlawful taking of a motor vehicle charges. Hernandez was being held at the juvenile detention center on a probation violation Saturday evening as police investigated the crash. Hernandez will go in front of a judge early on Monday or Tuesday for a detention hearing, Deputy County Manager Tom Swisstack said.
Two male students were in the car with the sorority sisters. One victim died at the scene, another while enroute to a local hospital, police said. The two survivors were in critical condition Saturday evening.
Officers had been told that a pickup truck was seen “driving aggressively” in the area before the crash, APD spokesman Fred Duran said in a news release early Saturday.
Police arrived on scene shortly after the crash and saw two men — later identified as Leal and Hernandez — running from the truck and into a nearby residential area. Officers and K9 units found both men and took them into custody.
The truck was reported stolen earlier this month and had a stolen license plate displayed, Duran said. A stolen firearm was also found in the vehicle.
“It was a cowardly, criminal act because they were involved in a crash and then fled and didn’t render aid,” Drobik said. “The department would like to express our condolences. It was especially tragic because of the age of the victims.”
A sign on the outside of the Pi Beta Phi house at UNM on Saturday evening said the sorority was closed temporarily. A student who answered the door said no one at the house wanted to comment Saturday.