Posted on 10/25/2016 1:29:31 PM PDT by nickcarraway
McKinley County Sheriffs deputies say an alleged drunk driver ran through barricades to strike a fire truck and medical helicopter.
Frank Hernandez was at the scene and witnessed the crash. Hernandez works for Speedway Towing in Gallup. He was at the site of a crash to tow away a vehicle that had rolled over -- the wreck that the medical helicopter was responding to.
Then I noticed after we got the vehicle picked up, this black Jeep flew past us, said Hernandez. I was thinking, 'What the heck is this guy doing?' Because they had people out there trying to stop traffic, already he almost hit two ladies.
Hernandez says the Jeep plowed through the barrier around the medical helicopter before hitting the fire truck and then the helicopter.
The driver has been identified as 26-year-old Glenn Livingston of Gallup.
Our medical team did an outstanding job. The patient was extremely critical, they maintained composure, they were professional and the stabilized this patient despite the incident that occurred on the scene, said Regional Director Julia Azua.
The patient made it safely to the hospital due to the medical crews efforts.
Hernandez says the accident wasnt even a surprise.
Youve got to be pretty drunk. Ive seen them where theyve taken vehicles off the road and they dont know they did that, or not, said Hernandez.
Hernandez says he estimates about 95% of the cars in his lot were destroyed due to drunk drivers.
Livingston was arrested and is facing charges that include aggravated DWI and having an open container of alcohol.
Wow, that’s drunk.
Well, that’ll take care of his deductible.
Did this happen on the old Highway 666?
Drunk vs. Really Drunk. I think aggravated is twice the limit or more.
40, but they’ve re-numbered 666 since folks were stealing all the signs.
Helicopters are a bad bet in NM. We had a guy shoot down a Sheriff’s department chopper in Albuquerque, the police dept. had two guys get disciplined for landing at Krispy Kreme, a UNM Medivac crashed on their own roof, and a State Police copter crashed during a rescue north of Santa Fe a number of years ago.
It looks like an AS350. There are a number of air ambulance services that operate this type.
Yeah, like you said, only in NM. The only state in the Republic where my wife doesn’t seem crazier than the average bear.
She fits right in, probably an asset to the population in general.
I will give her credit. She went for her annual trek to a bar a few weeks ago and was whooping it up for Trump - and the locals in Taos at the bar largely said they were voting for the Donald as well. That’s saying something.
Taos is Baja Sedona. But I think the Nortenos will largely be pulling the lever for Trump because they are pissed at what the fedgov has been doing to their historic rights of access to federal lands up that way.
MBB's are the local standard
The AS350s are usually used for short hops around here and they are usually in the stable of the small operators. The “Big Boys” around here operate the EC135 or Bell 407.
“Whats the difference between DWI and aggravated DWI?”
.16 BAC or above, refusal to take BAC test, or caused bodily injury while DWI
~NMDPS website
The insurance office call must be thinking a car helicopter accident is a joke....
One of the operators in this area once used the BK117, and that was a beast.
I think there were other reasons, too, that should be pretty obvious.
That number should not have been used on a North/South route, as they are odd numbered, like the current 491 designation on that road.
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