EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — A 22-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a crash on Friday, Dec. 6, at a Las Cruces motel that killed one person and injured another.
According to court documents obtained by KTSM, Alan Leyva-Vasquez has been arrested and charged with homicide by vehicle (reckless).
Leyva-Vasquez drove an SUV in reverse at a “high rate of speed” without any braking signs and crashed into an occupied unit of the motel building, according to court documents.
Court documents identified Kari Scholin as the person who was killed, while Robin Schulze suffered what were called minor injuries.
The suspect initially told police that he had been assaulted by three people with guns and he ran to the vehicle to get away, according to court documents.
He later changed his story and told police that he was in a hurry to follow another vehicle. He also changed his story on whether he hit the brakes or not.
He also told police that when he was reversing there was a “delayed response” while pushing the accelerator and he continued to push on the accelerator, leading into the crash.
Video footage obtained by police, however, showed the defendant walking to and then running and entering the vehicle.
The SUV is then observed reversing “at a high rate of speed” and crashing into the motel, completely entering it, according to court documents.
The vehicle in the crash also had “ficticious” Texas plates, according to court documents.
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