DEMING, NM - New Mexico State Police announced the arrest of a suspect in a fatal hit-and-run, and credited the Automatic License Plate Recognition system (ALPR) with helping them solve the case.
In a news release, NMSP said the incident involved a vehicle and a bicyclist and happened Saturday afternoon on State Road 11 near Deming. State Police arrived at the scene at about 1 p.m. and found a man dead near his bicycle. The victim was identified as 69-year-old Kevin O'Leary. The driver involved had left the scene and there were no witnesses.
Based on crash debris found at the scene, NMSP advised that the vehicle being sought was a red vehicle that may have front-end damage. The ALPR system was utilized to identify the vehicle, a 2011 red Cadillac sedan. Border Patrol and Customs notified State Police that a vehicle matching that description had crossed into Mexico immediately following the crash at the Columbus Port of Entry.
The Cadillac driver was subsequently arrested and taken into custody in Deming on Monday. The suspect, identified as 33-year-old Noel Ronquillo Jr., was charged with involuntary manslaughter and knowingly leaving the scene of an accident (great bodily harm or death).
“ALPR technology has been widely praised for improving law enforcement’s ability to track and capture criminals” said New Mexico State Police Chief Troy Weisler. “In just a short time, this system identified a vehicle that was involved in a homicide, leading to an arrest. If not for this technology, this case might not have been solved so swiftly, and a dangerous offender might have still been on the street."
Should any additional information come to light, our Albuquerque car accident lawyer will update this news blog.
