The stretch of State Road 76 near the Chimayó Post Office is well-known for the traffic accidents. But a very unusual one occurred Tuesday when Pete Gomez, of Chimayó, hit a tree in a crash involving both alcohol and stab wounds, according to State Police.
Audrey Anderson, of Ojo Sarco, was driving on the road at about 4 p.m. when she witnessed the accident. She said Gomez, 38, pulled westbound onto the road from a Rio Arriba County road near the Chimayó Youth Conservation Corps. She said he veered onto the right shoulder of State Road 76 before crossing the eastbound lane, going through a fence and hitting a tree on the opposite side of the road, about 10 feet from the pavement.
“It looked like he accelerated very fast,” she said. “He made no attempt to stop. You can see there are no skid marks.”
The tree Gomez hit is owned by Rose Vigil and sits directly across from her weaving studio, Living Traditions.
“I heard the bang first and saw all the dust,” Vigil said. “He must have been flying.”
Vigil said she came out of her studio and dialed 911. She said she saw grass around the car was starting on fire, so she got a fire extinguisher and put out the flames. She said she reached into the car to turn it off and tried to get Gomez to respond.
“I saw that his legs were trapped,” she said.
She said he was breathing, but his eyes were shut and he was unresponsive.
By the time Española Valley emergency responders and State Police arrived on the scene, Gomez had regained consciousness.
“He’s being very uncooperative,” State Police officer Jonathan Tenorio said. “He might have been running from somebody.”
Tenorio said Gomez refused to answer questions about where he was coming from or where he was headed. When asked where he was from, Tenorio said Gomez responded, “Arizona.” Tenorio said Gomez is from Phoenix but has lived in Chimayó the last five years. A New Mexico driver’s license bearing Gomez’s name was recovered from the vehicle, along with a Leatherman-type tool that had apparently been used to stab Gomez twice in the chest, according to police. Tenorio said he couldn’t tell how deep the wounds were, but the knife on the tool was about two-inches long.
Tenorio said alcohol was also found in the vehicle. He said it is not yet clear if Gomez was stabbed by someone else or if he stabbed himself. He said interviews with his family and neighbors have led Tenorio to believe Gomez had been going through some distress, and Gomez’s family told him the knife was one Gomez often carried.
“People do crazy things,” he said. “We’re not gonna leave out foul play yet.”
Police did not arrest Gomez at the scene and were not sure as of Tuesday night whether he would be facing any charges. Tenorio said blood would be drawn at the hospital to test for alcohol, as bottles were found in the car and Gomez’s breath smelled like alcohol. Gomez’s injuries kept police from administering sobriety tests at the scene, Tenorio said.