Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Managing editor
Roosevelt County sheriff’s deputies violated the New Mexico Safe Pursuit Act during a vehicle chase that resulted in the death of a 33-year-old Portales woman, according to a notice of a planned lawsuit.
The tort claim is filed on behalf of the family of Iresema Hernandez who died on Aug. 31.
Sheriff Malin Parker declined comment on the issue Tuesday, though he said at the time of the accident that deputies followed safe-pursuit policies.
Hernandez was on house arrest related to drug charges when sheriff’s deputies made contact with her in a vehicle outside a hotel on U.S. 70 on Aug. 31, according to a sheriff’s office press release sent out at the time.
Eduardo Lopez, 23, was driving the vehicle that contained Hernandez, officials said, when police began a pursuit that lasted eight miles. Officials have not said how fast the vehicles were traveling during the pursuit.
According to the tort claim, one of the sheriff’s vehicles hit the vehicle Hernandez was in from behind, causing it to fishtail and crash.
Hernandez was transported to a Lubbock hospital where she later died.
Lopez was treated and released.
The tort claim alleges Hernandez was in the vehicle against her will.
“This high speed pursuit was a violation of, among other statutes and regulations, the Law Enforcement Safe Pursuit Act,” the claim states.
County Manager Amber Hamilton said on Tuesday that county officials “stand behind the sheriff’s office and their official documentation of the account of this event.”
“In any kind of notice of suit, any allegations can be made; it’s determined later, through a court of law, the truth of the matter, and that’s where we fully support and stand behind our sheriff’s office.”
The sheriff’s office safe pursuit policy states that “there are no tasks in the agency of such importance that they justify the reckless disregard of the safety of innocent persons.”
Under the “justification for pursuit” section, the policy states the following as justification for a pursuit: “When the necessity of immediate apprehension outweighs the level of danger created by the pursuit, as in a DWI, where observed driving behavior presents a clear and immediate threat to the lives or safety of others.”
The New Mexico Safe Pursuit Act is a state law passed by the Legislature that requires each law enforcement agency in the state to have a safe-pursuit policy in place that sets guidelines for when to pursue criminals in high-speed chases.
