Slain officer known for aid to stranded travelers

Responding to calls from stranded drivers with broken-down cars is a regular feature of the job for New Mexico State Police.

But Officer Justin Hare, who was shot and killed while on duty Friday morning, was known for taking that task to the next level.

“If he saw a car or a pickup on the side of the highway, he was always stopping to try to help them,” said Jason Goen, a Tucumcari mechanic and tow truck driver who worked alongside Hare for years. “When you call out road service it’s kind of expensive, and he would help people, you know, try to help save them money and save them time. ... He was just a stand-up guy.”

Hare, 35, was responding to a call on Interstate 40 west of Tucumcari early Friday morning when he was fatally shot by a stranded motorist, police saiid.

Jaremy Smith, 32, of Marion, S.C., fled the scene but was captured Sunday morning in Albuquerque.

Goen, who works for Jack’s Truck Repair and 4J’s Towing & Recovery Services in Tucumcari, said Hare was an all-around hardworking patrolman - in addition to breaking out his own electric impact wrench or getting down on the ground to help drivers change their tires.

“Every time we had a semi-truck wreck he would be out there. He would be the last State Police officer to leave the scene,” Goen said. “He was down there as long as he could, helping direct traffic so that we would be safe doing our job.”

Goen said Hare was from the Logan area, and was a fixture in the community - showing up to cookouts at the tow truck shop and sometimes taking oranges or other fruit from overturned semis to kids playing sports at schools.

“It’s a shock to our community for sure,” he said of Hare’s death.

The Logan Police Department posted on Facebook Hare was “long-time member of the Logan community and will be greatly missed but never forgotten. ... “Hare, may you rest in peace, Sir. We have the watch from here.”

Goen said Hare’s death has rattled him and his colleagues not just because they knew him, but because they’re often in a similar situation.

“We’re out there all hours of the day, all hours of the night,” he said. “This is really gonna be stuck in my mind from now on, that people out on these roads at night especially … are they gonna try to harm you because you’re coming up to help them?”