Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s deputies are asking for the public’s help to identify the person who drove onto the new football field at Española Valley High School, March 25, and melted up to $7,500 worth of artificial turf.
Deputy Sammy Marquez, assigned as the school resource officer for the High School, said he suspects the person who drove onto the field did a brake stand with their sport utility vehicle.
“(When they did) a brake stand, it was only the right tire (that) was causing deep grooves into the grass,” Marquez said.
A brake stand involves someone, usually in a rear-wheel drive vehicle, applying the brake and the gas at the same time, causing the rear wheels to spin, while the front wheels remain stationary.
Marquez said the initial estimate put the damage at $7,500, but that number could increase, or decrease, depending on which parts of the new turf will have to be replaced.
The turf on the $1.5 million field is various shades and features the High School’s logo.
“The thing about it is, they’re two different colors, and the field is basically sewn together,” Marquez said. “(There’s a question as to) how many pieces are damaged and how many pieces need to be replaced.”
Marquez said the vehicle appears to be a late 1990s to early 2000s Jeep Cherokee or Grand Cherokee.
The paint job appears to be white over black or dark gray.
Facilities Manager Adán Cordova said Bosque Farms-based Lone Mountain Contracting will have to replace 200-square-feet of turf.
“They’re going to have to cut a section out,” Cordova said. “They have to sew it back together (after) they cut out the damaged area.”
After the initial piece is cut, they will need to put down a base liner, followed by the new piece of turf.
“After the patch, you won’t notice it,” Cordova said.Marquez said he talked to the contractors, thinking they may have driven on the field. However, they all said they had no reason to drive onto the field.
“(The vehicle) came in from north to south, entered the field, started to lose traction (on the turf) and then he started to almost burn the plastic,” Marquez said.
The tires left visible marks on the turf, but it was the brake stand at the 20-yard line that did the most damage and dug into the artificial grass.
Marquez said the school gate had been left open for a group of cheerleaders coming back from Albuquerque.
“I’ve been poring over the times,” he said. “A vehicle was seen at 4 a.m., (March 26) and 11:30 p.m. (March 25).”
Based on surveillance footage from the campus, the driver went across the campus, in areas that are not meant for vehicles, before racing across the field.
The field was accessible because the fence that was around it had been taken down, so crews could continue construction work on the track, as well as build the new fence.
Cordova said barriers have been put up so no vehicles can get onto the track again.
In addition, Principal Robert Archuleta and athletic coordinator Eric Vigil are making sure that at the end of each day, the main access gates to the school are locked, Cordova said.
The contractor will need to pay for the repairs because the field had not been signed over to the School District yet.
“When they take on a contract, there’s a reason they’re licensed, bonded and insured,” Cordova said. “Technically, it’s the contractor’s until it’s at 100-percent completion.”
Cordova said the track and field should be mostly finished by the end of April, and available to students.
“We’re on schedule and, still, everything has been going good,” he said.
When students are allowed on the new track and field, will depend on how close the project is to being done.
“The only things (to) finish up (by then) will be some of the fence, those-type things,” Cordova said.
The entire track and field project drew the ire of parents after the contract was awarded, Oct. 12, 2016, to Lone Mountain Contracting, as well as a $372,265 no-bid contract to install bleachers and build a press box to Albuquerque-based company School Equipment Inc.
Lone Mountain Contracting was the only company to submit a bid during a special Board meeting in September 2016.
SUN Staff Writer Barron Jones contributed to this story.