Police: Woman mows down beau
By Jason Auslander The New Mexican
May 4, 2006
Santa Fe County sheriff’s deputies closed U.S. 84/285 Wednesday afternoon after a woman allegedly ran over her boyfriend with her car following what police call a “rolling domestic dispute,” Sheriff Greg Solano said. Deputies first received a 911 call from Manuelita Herrera, 22, of Nambé about 2 p.m., Solano said.
She said she was fighting with her boyfriend in a car traveling south toward Santa Fe, though she didn’t know the name of the highway, he said.
As deputies began tracking down her cell-phone signal, another 911 call came in reporting that a woman had just run over a man near the Towa Golf Course, Solano said. Afterward, Herrera drove to a northbound frontage road near the golf course, where she was pulled over by an officer from the Pojoaque Police Department, he said.
The man — 35-year-old Angelo Pacheco of Albuquerque — was taken by helicopter to St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, where he was in serious condition Wednesday with internal injuries and fractures to his legs and an elbow, Solano said. His injuries were not life-threatening , he said.
Deputies closed the road between 2:30 and 5:15 p.m. because they first thought the incident might turn out to be a homicide, Solano said.
Also, a witness reported seeing Herrera and Pacheco throwing what looked like drugs out the window and deputies needed to collect evidence, he said. No drugs were found, he said.
Solano said investigators suspect drugs or alcohol might have been a factor and took a blood sample from the woman for analysis.
The woman told police she was trying to break up with Pacheco and he was angry about it, Solano said. The couple began fighting in Española and pulled over near the golf course just before Pojoaque and continued arguing, Solano said. The woman told police Pacheco slapped her, got out of the car, threw the keys at her and began walking away, he said.
She said she got back in the car and Pacheco began taunting her to come and hit him with the car, Solano said. So Herrera drove toward Pacheco thinking he would get out of the way, but he didn’t and she struck him, he said. Pacheco went over the hood, struck the windshield and fell to the ground before Herrera drove off, Solano said. Pacheco was uncooperative at the hospital, he said. Herrera, who had injuries to her face and body consistent with a domestic dispute, was arrested and charged with aggravated battery with great bodily injury.