Three men died at the scene of a gruesome head-on collision Monday night in Coyote, according to the Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Department.
Richard Vialpando, 22, of Cañones, was driving eastbound on State Road 96 near milepost 35 around 11 p.m. when he collided with a car coming westbound driven by Alfred Jaramillo, 21, of Youngsville, according to deputy Martin Trujillo.
Vialpando and Jaramillo were dead by the time first responders arrived, as was Jaramillo’s passenger, his brother James, 24, Trujillo said. Vialpando’s passengers — Baltizar Martinez, 53, of Colorado, and Larry Martinez, 53, of Arroyo de Agua — were extricated from Vialpando’s Dodge Durango and airlifted to St. Vincent Hospital in Santa Fe, Trujillo said.
Trujillo said it appeared the first three fatalities occurred instantaneously in the apparently alcohol-related crash.
Larry and Baltizar Martinez appeared to have suffered internal injuries, Trujillo said. Larry Martinez was in critical condition April 15 at St. Vincent Hospital. Balitzar Martinez’s status was unknown.
While both vehicles were demolished, Alfred Jaramillo’s Chevy Cavalier was particularly mangled from the crash.
“It’s a smaller car so it was just smashed-in all the way to the back,” Trujillo said.
The Cavalier came to a stop in the eastbound shoulder of the road, the Durango was in the westbound lane facing north, Trujillo said. Neither flipped or rolled, but instead they appeared to have bounced off each other, he said.
“By the devastation of the vehicles it looks like speed was some type of a factor,” Trujillo said.
There was evidence of another potential contributing factor spread all over the road: beer cans. At the debris-strewn scene, it was too soon to tell which car the cans came from, Trujillo said. It appeared both cars crossed the center line before striking each other head-on, Trujillo said.
Vialpando had a charge of aggravated driving under the influence reduced to a lesser charge in September 2008, according to an online court records database.
The state Office of the Medical Investigator will produce toxicology test results in about six weeks which will show the blood alcohol concentrations of the four deceased.
Alfred Jaramillo’s 21st birthday was Monday, but no family members with information about where he and his brother were driving from or to could be reached for comment.
Alfred Jaramillo was a firefighter for the Coyote Ranger District and his brother worked at Buffalo Thunder Resort, their obituary states. James Jaramillo is survived by his two children and his fiancé, who was pregnant with their child.
“It’s devastating to us — we knew the Jaramillo brothers,” Richard Sanchez, the manager of Coyote Crossing store in Coyote, said. “They were regular customers here.”
Rio Arriba County Manager Lorenzo said Larry Martinez is a former County and North Central Solid Waste Authority employee. Sanchez said Baltizar Martinez lived in Colorado but frequently visited his brother in Coyote.
Sanchez said the narrow roads make driving in the area treacherous.
“A lot of the time when you’re driving on these roads you can’t see what’s coming up the other way until you get to the top of the hill,” Sanchez said. “There’s really nowhere to swerve, if you’re going to swerve somewhere you’re going to go off the cliff.”
Eddie Salazar, who identified himself as a relative to the Jaramillo brothers, said an account was opened at Valley National Bank to take donations for the family.
Another Coyote resident who did not wish her name to be used described how the town is reeling from the tragedy.
“We are distraught; it’s kind of unbelievable trying to grasp what just happened,” she said.
Correction: The print version of this story had to be corrected. It stated that four men had died, with Baltizar Martinez being the fourth death. In fact Martinez was still alive as of April 15. This information was provided by Sgt. Martin Trujillo who corrected himself after the SUN’s publication deadline.