Pileups, trash dump stall city drivers

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A crash at the beginning of the morning rush hour yielded a DWI suspect Thursday as a series of pileups and other incidents around the city delayed travelers and kept police and medics busy.

Shaun Yazzie, 25, was arrested after officers said he ignored a red signal about 6 a.m. and slammed his car into a Jeep Wrangler in the intersection of Wyoming and Louisiana NE.  That sent the Jeep rolling and damaging another car in the process.

Police said the Jeep driver, a member of the military, was buckled in and not seriously hurt.  The driver of the other car was taken to a hospital to be checked out.

Yazzie was led away in handcuffs, and police said his Breathalyzer test showed an alcohol level of 0.16.  That's twice the level for presumed intoxication under state law, police said.

Just after 8 a.m. a fenderbender in the Big I caused a severe backup for traffic heading north on Interstate 25 and trying to get to Interstate 40.  The crash was in the exit lanes to eastbound I-40 causing a mess but no reported injuries.

Another major backup occurred on eastbound I-40 when a crash at Sixth Street NW left a motorcyclist with a broken leg.

And just to complicate things downtown, later in the morning a municipal garbage truck suffered a failure of its hydraulic system and dumped part of its load on Lead Avenue at Fifth Street.

> KRQE Interactive Traffic Map