Snowplow driver charged with careless driving

Man says he did not see couple

The Santa Fe city government snowplow driver who ran over two pedestrians while clearing snowy streets in January has been charged with careless driving.

Driver Billy Kavanaugh told police he didn’t know he had struck Joseph and Toni Fammartino, both 68, about 6:30 p.m. Jan. 11 at the intersection of Galisteo and Paseo de Peralta.

Both Fammartinos were hospitalized and Joseph, a retired ophthalmologist, was the most seriously hurt, with facial injuries that included broken bones.

Kavanaugh was making a left turn onto Paseo de Peralta from Galisteo when he struck the two pedestrians as they were crossing Paseo in a crosswalk, and he then drove away. Toni Fammartino told the police the couple had started crossing the street after they got a walk signal.

Police department spokesman Greg Gurule said in January that Kavanaugh might not be charged for leaving the scene of the accident because he was “adamant he did not know he struck anyone.”

Magistrate Court records show that Kavanaugh was charged with careless driving on Feb. 4 and he was arraigned on Feb. 19. A non-jury trial is scheduled for April 11 before Magistrate Judge David Segura.

Gurule said last week that he couldn’t release any new information on the accident because the case is still active. He said an SFPD detective is working with the Santa Fe District Attorney’s Office “on the status of the case.”

As of late last week, the Journal had no response to an email to city Public Works Department officials inquiring about Kavanaugh’s job status or results of any administrative investigation of the accident. City employee pay records posted on the city’s website indicated that as of Feb. 25, Kavanaugh remained on the job as a streets equipment operator in Public Works.

A police report says Kavanaugh told an officer he did not remember hitting anyone. The police report says he “was really remorseful in his answers and was really concerned about the status of the injured.”

As part of his snowplow route, Kavanaugh said, he circled back to the same intersection and called a supervisor about the accident, which by that time had been reported to police by a driver who saw the Fammartinos in the road, bleeding. Kavanaugh then drove away again.

The supervisor called Kavanaugh back and said there was a report that a snowplow hit the two pedestrians and asked him to return to the scene. Kavanaugh told police that it was a dark intersection and he hadn’t seen anyone, “not even other vehicles.”

The reporting officer wrote that no street lights were on at the intersection and that it was “very dark,” with only traffic lights providing illumination.

The accident was reported about 6:18 p.m., an hour after sunset. The police report says snow had just started falling, but, wet from previous storms, the streets were starting to become icy.

The officer later inspected the city-owned snowplow and saw evidence that it had hit someone.

“On the black rubber piece that is along the front top, right hand side of the snowplow, it appeared to have a hand print with dragging marks straight down,” the report says.