Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
A Clovis vehicle wreck involving a state police cruiser sent two area residents to the hospital for minor injuries.
It took a little over two weeks to get the details of a vehicle wreck in Clovis that sent two area residents to the hospital for minor injuries and caused a state police cruiser to flip and land on its top.
New Mexico State Police released the 24 page report after an Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA) request was submitted by The News.
Trooper Robert Hernandez was eastbound on Seventh Street Aug. 3 at about 12:15 p.m. with his lights and siren on his 2018 Ford Explorer running as he had heard there was an active shooter situation at Clovis Community College.
The "active shooter" was actually active shooter training at CCC involving Clovis city emergency personnel.
Hernandez was following four state police cruisers who also had their lights and sirens on who were also headed to the CCC campus.
Hernandez said in the report he observed a blue passenger vehicle northbound on Norris Street and it hit his police cruiser on the side causing it to roll over.
Amanda Leatherwood, 42, was the driver of the passenger vehicle, an 11-year-old child, was in the front passenger seat.
None of the three people involved in the collision sustained serious injuries according to the report.
According to the investigation report which included statements from both drivers and witnesses, video surveillance and dash cam video Leatherwood was traveling northbound through the intersection with a green light and Hernandez had a red light.
The report concludes: "Even though Officer Hernandez had his emergency equipment activated it does not relieve him from the duty to drive with due regard for the safety of all persons on the roadway."
The report also said "No enforcement action will be taken."
After the crash, the NMSP learned the report of an active-shooter threat at CCC was only a training exercise being conducted by the Clovis Police Department, the news release stated.
NMSP had not been made aware of the training exercise, officials from both agencies said.
In an email, Clovis Police Capt. Roman Romero wrote, "We did not inform the New Mexico State Police about our training, we never do. This training had been coordinated with CCC and the Clovis Fire Department to test our combined capabilities for an event I hope we never have to go through again."
Romero stated that Clovis police posted a brief note on Facebook, "so our community realized that the multiple emergency vehicles at Clovis Community College were engaged in training. It has been a rough couple of months for our community, so letting them know that seemed important."
Romero said that while Clovis police do not know how state police learned of the exercise, "it is heartening to know they will respond to assist our community for such an event."
