Chase left teen dead, five injured

DEXTER, N.M. (KRQE) - A 14-year old Dexter boy is dead and five other teens are badly hurt after the SUV they were in crashed.

State police said alcohol was a contributing factor to the crash that happened in Dexter just after midnight Saturday.

A Chaves County Sheriff's deputy responded to a call about a suspicious vehicle parked on a rural road.

The deputy found a government issued vehicle parked at the intersection of Orchard Park and Honolulu Road, and when he shined a spotlight on it, the Ford Excursion sped off.

"So he immediately knew that all right, there's something wrong, this is probably a stolen vehicle, it's got government plates and it's running from me," said Lt. Britt Snyder of the Chaves County Sheriff's Office.

Investigators said the SUV fled south down the unpaved part of Honolulu Road. Snyder said it took only two minutes after the vehicle fled until it crashed.

The SUV rolled approximately three times, and when the deputy caught up with it, he discovered all six passengers had been thrown out of it.

They were not wearing seat belts. Fourteen-year old James Lodoza from Dexter died at the scene.

"They were driving pretty fast. How fast they were going when they rolled over? We don't really know," said Snyder. "We were like a half mile behind them when that happened."

Police said the driver was 18-year old Jacob Matta from Roswell.

The other four passengers are all 16-years old and all from Dexter: Mario Alvarez, Anthony Castaneda, Chris Moreno and Daniel Rendon. They were flown to Lubbock with critical injuries.

Police said Castaneda had to be resuscitated several times.

"It's not much of a road," explained Snyder. "It's pretty rough and pretty narrow, and an inexperienced driver; that's just a tragedy waiting to happen sometimes."

Police said the SUV was stolen from a parking lot at Dexter High School, one of two Excursions used by staff. Police found a key to the SUV at the crash scene but aren't sure how the students obtained it.

Dexter's superintendent did not want to comment about the crash or the students, but did tell us under no circumstances are students authorized to drive staff vehicles.

New Mexico State Police are investigating the crash. Dexter police said it's still early in their investigation on how the students stole the vehicle. Until they can find out more, they don't know what charges, if any, the students will face.