Española City Police, Santa Clara Tribal Police and Española Firefighters were investigating a hit-and-run early Tuesday morning at the intersection of Hunter Street and North Railroad Avenue, that closed the area for several hours.
About four hours after the incident happened, crews remained on scene cleaning up and continuing their investigation. EFD Assistant Fire Chief John Wickersham said the fire department was paged out to the scene around 2:40 a.m.
However, at 7 a.m., the investigation was still underway, with gravel from a nearby median littering the road, along with clothing, shoes, socks, a duffel-type bag and a baseball cap. Onlookers and investigators gathered on the sidewalks on either side of Paseo de Oñate, taking photos and chatting.
EPD Chief Mizel Garcia said a woman was hit by a vehicle that fled the scene.
“It happened on tribal land,” he said. “Everyone involved were tribal members. We detained everyone and the victim was transported to a hospital in Santa Fe. It looks like Santa Clara will take over the accident.”
Garcia said with the help of New Mexico State Police, they were able to find the vehicle and suspected driver that hit the woman. The driver and occupants of the car were detained.
Garcia said if any charges are filed, they will come from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
As of 10 a.m. Tuesday morning, Garcia said the woman who was hit was still in the hospital, but he didn’t have an update on her condition. Because Santa Clara took over the investigation, Garcia could not release anymore information. Attempts to get information from the Santa Clara Tribal Police were unsuccessful.