DPS secretary chases down erratic driver

BERNALILLO, N.M. (KRQE) - The head of all state law enforcement agencies took a very hands-on approach to his work Tuesday morning.

State Public Safety Secretary Gorden Eden was on his way to work when he spotted a possibly dangerous pickup truck driver on northbound Interstate 25. 

"This guy's just driving erratically, making erratic lane changes, going off on to the shoulder, speeding up, slowing down, changing lanes again," said Lt. Robert McDonald with New Mexico State Police.

"Every time he'd come back on the interstate he'd go all the way over and catch the rumble strip on the other side," Eden is heard telling a State Police officer on dash-camera video recording the incident.

Eden's unmarked SUV was equipped with emergency equipment, so he turned on his lights and tried to pull the driver over.

When the driver, who was identified by State Police as Frank Romero, 35, failed to stop, Eden called for help.

Minutes later a State Police officer catches up to the chase north of Bernalillo and sees Eden following Romero's truck, which was all the way on the shoulder but still driving.

On dashcam video you can see Romero pull over and stick his hands out of the window. The officer asks the man why he wouldn't stop when Eden had his lights on.

"I didn't see him," Romero responds.

McDonald told KRQE News 13 Romero was not intoxicated and did not have any outstanding warrants. He's facing charges of reckless driving and evading a police officer.

Online court records show this year alone Romero has been arrested twice for drug possession and once for domestic violence.

Eden has no shortage of law enforcement experience as both a former State Police officer and U.S. Marshal for New Mexico.

"He is a certified officer in New Mexico," McDonald said.  "He has every right to stop people, and, no, he doesn't do this every day.  He doesn't go out and work traffic."