DWI officer seriously injured by alleged drunken driver in ABQ

Jun. 17—Albuquerque police say an officer was hospitalized with several broken bones and other injuries after being hit by a drunken driver early Friday morning on the West Side.

Vaughn Stands, 28, is charged with DWI resulting in great bodily harm in the crash.

Rebecca Atkins, an Albuquerque police spokeswoman, said the DWI officer was “about to be off duty and was heading home” when the crash occurred.

The officer was hospitalized with a broken leg, broken wrist and “an unknown neck injury,” according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.

Police said they drew Stands blood to be tested for alcohol because he was slurring his words and had bloodshot eyes. Court records show Stands has been cited three times for speeding since 2015.

At around 2:30 a.m. the officer called out over the radio that he had been in a crash at Irving and Eagle Ranch NW. Police said responding officers could hear “significant distress” in the officer’s voice as he said “I’m hurt” over the radio.

Police found Stands in a truck south of the intersection and he had a large gash in his head, according to the complaint. Stands told police he was driving home from the Dirty Bourbon when an argument broke out with his female passenger.

Police said Stands told them he “wasn’t paying attention” and trying to get his seatbelt on when the woman grabbed the steering wheel and they crashed. He said he “didn’t know what he hit” and believed it was “more likely a curb” than another vehicle.

Stands told police he drank three beers and the officer couldn’t smell alcohol “due to the heavy odor of automotive chemicals from the crash,” according to the complaint. Police believe Stands was traveling well above the 35 mph speed limit due the “large debris pattern” and “severe damage” to the vehicles.

“I was unable to conduct any (sobriety tests) on Stands due to his injury and the potential of head trauma,” the complaint states. “However I did obtain a search warrant for the purposes of having Stands blood drawn and tested for alcohol.”