Man sentenced to prison for deadly accident on Interstate 40 in Quay County

TUCUMCARI, NM – A truck driver charged with causing a deadly accident in Quay County earlier this year has been sentenced to prison, The Eastern New Mexico News reports.

37-year-old Nicholas Lee Pryor of Sulphur Springs, Texas, was ordered to serve six years behind bars for the June 1 wreck on Interstate 40 near Tucumcari. Under a plea deal with prosecutors, Pryor pleaded guilty to felony charges of homicide by vehicle (reckless driving) and two counts of great bodily injury by vehicle (reckless driving)

Witnesses said Pryor was driving his Volvo truck at higher speed than other vehicles as he went through a construction zone and crashed into several stopped or slowed vehicles on I-40. Pryor was reported to have told two paramedics that he looked down at a text message on his phone while driving, and looked up to see the brake lights of the stopped vehicles prior to the collision. One person, Fauna Gutierrez, was killed and several others injured in the four-vehicle wreck.

Along with the six-year prison term, District Judge Timothy Rose sentenced Pryor to five years of supervised probation after his release.

Reacting to the sentence, District Attorney Heidi Adams was quoted as saying, “No sentence will ever heal the trauma that Fauna Gutierrez’s children experienced that day. However, we applaud the message of public safety that the six years in the Department of Corrections — the maximum punishment for the homicide by vehicle (reckless) — sends to other drivers who text and drive.”

Driver flees scene of rollover crash on Interstate 25

ALBUQUERQUE, NM – Authorities were called to a rollover accident on Interstate 25 in Albuquerque on Friday night.

According to a traffic alert issued by the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office at 8:55 p.m., deputies responded to the single-vehicle crash on eastbound I-25 just north of Tramway Boulevard NEnear Exit 235.

An investigation determined that the sole occupant of the vehicle had fled the scene. Multiple lanes of eastbound I-25 were shut down in the area while the BCSO worked the scene.

Wreck disrupts traffic on I-40 east of Grants

GRANTS, NM – A crash was reported to have affected traffic on a stretch of Interstate 40 during Friday afternoon’s commute.

An advisory on NMRoads posted at 4:05 p.m. stated that the wreck took place on I-40 westbound at mile marker 112, 27 miles east of Grants. The westbound right lane was closed while the roadway was being cleared.

Drivers were advised to slow down, use caution, obey all posted traffic signs, and watch for emergency vehicles and personnel.

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