Thieves Plunder Crashed SUV of Tires, Wheels and Battery - While Dying Driver Lay Trapped Underneath

Daily Mail (U.K.) ^ | 22 March 2013 | Daily Mail Reporter

[DogByte6RER]

Thieves plunder crashed SUV of tires, wheels and battery - while its dying driver lay trapped underneath

A man who was crushed to death by his SUV after a fatal accident suffered the final indignity of being robbed as he lay trapped under the vehicle.

Police in New Mexico say 26-year-old Steven Roy Reese of Carlsbad was killed either Tuesday night or Wednesday morning when he apparently lost control of his 1996 Ford Explorer on a little-used dirt road.

However, when they got to the vehicle they discovered that somebody had stolen wheels, tires and the battery from the wrecked SUV as it lay on top of the victim.

The Carlsbad Current-Argus reports the medical investigator determined Reese had been dead for between eight and 12 hours before police found him.

Police Lt. Jennifer Moyers says removal of the items was both illegal and extremely insensitive. She says possible criminal charges include theft and failure to give notice of an accident.

Moyers added that if the thief attempts to sell the stolen items that would add an additional charge to the rap sheet.

Officers believe that Reese was driving on the remote dirt road next to an irrigation canal between Lea Street and Boyd Drive near Carlsbad when he lost control of the car.

Authorities believe the 26-year-old overcorrected his steering to try and regain control. This caused the 1996 Ford Explorer to flip twice and then land on top of him.

Then some time during the night Goodyear Wrangler tires, two Ford factory aluminum wheels and the battery were removed from his SUV.

Sick: Thieves stole the tires, wheels and battery from the man's 1996 Ford Explorer, similar to the one pictured here

[elkfersupper]

New Mexico - the Afghanistan of the U.S. - always has been, always will be.

[CedarDave]

New Mexico - the Afghanistan of the U.S. - always has been, always will be.

I guess one of these days one's number will come up on the crime lottery.

[cva66snipe]

I visited Carlsbad in about 1994. My sister and her husband lived there at the time. He was an engineer working on building the WIPP facility. They told me Carlsbad was located half way between Hell and Hobbs LOL. I did like the Caverns though. We took a trip down to El Paso and you could see a huge difference. I think that salt flats at the base of the mountain would make a great federal prison LOL. One thing I noticed. Every Rattler Road Kill was missing the rattles.

My B.I.L. and a bunch of others lost their jobs when the facility was finished. He and Sis moved back to Tennessee.