ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Two people, including a young girl, were seriously injured in a crash Monday morning, Mar. 27, near Bell Avenue and San Pedro Drive in southeast Albuquerque.
According to the Albuquerque Police Department, officers responded to reports of the crash around 7:45 a.m. Police say a State of New Mexico-owned vehicle was stolen from the New Mexico Fairgrounds. They also report the maroon-colored Chevy SUV was traveling eastbound on Bell Ave. and approached San Pedro Dr. at a high rate. The driver of the stolen SUV ran a stop sign and t-boned a gray Jeep SUV.
Police say the occupants of the Jeep were a 43-year-old male driver and a 10-year-old girl. They were both transported to the hospital for life-threatening injuries. A gofundme page has been set up to help with the medical costs; to donate click here.
APD reports after the crash the driver of the stolen vehicle, later identified as 37-year-old John Eugene Bearden Jr., fled the scene on foot. New Mexico State Police officers and APD later arrested him near the 500 block of Dakota St. SE.
APD says Bearden will be booked for unlawful taking of a motor vehicle, leaving the scene of a crash involving serious physical injury, and great bodily harm by vehicle (DWI Related-two counts).
