In an attempt to curtail the rising cases of dangerous car chases involving suspects and police, the First Judicial District attorney is proposing stiffer penalties for criminals attempting to flee.
Mary Carmack Altwies, the First Judicial District attorney who serves Rio Arriba, Santa Fe and Los Alamos counties, announced there will be no more plea deals ending with probation for those charged in those crimes. In addition, her office will automatically file a motion to keep someone in jail pending trial if they have an aggravated fleeing charge.
“That means that we will be asking for them to serve time in custody whether that’s jail or prison,” Carmack-Altwies told KRQE News 13. ‘We are not going to be making deals anymore to allow people out of custody or onto probation.”
The action comes in the aftermath of fatal wrong-way chase earlier this month that resulted in a crash that killed Santa Fe Police officer Robert Duran and retired firefighter Frank Lovato, who were driving in separate vehicles. Duran was in pursuit of Jeannine Jaramillo on I-25.
Santa Fe Police Deputy Chief Ben Valdez told KRQE his department has been involved in seven chases so far this year. That compares to five during the same span last year. Valdez said he supports the D.A.’s new policy.
“This is gonna have a good impact in our community to improve safety, so we’re very grateful for their decision,” Valdez told KRQE. “Running doesn’t make things better, it actually aggravates a situation and makes it worse for that person who’s facing that charge.”
Bernalillo County District Attorney Raúl Torrez also supports tougher sentences for aggravated fleeing. “One of the things we’re focused on is the way in which the law currently punishes people who are convicted of that crime,” Torrez told KRQE.
He proposed making aggravated fleeing resulting in great bodily harm or death a second-degree felony. It would have carried a nine-year penalty, but the proposal didn’t make it through the legislative session.
“We have a situation I think where the law simply doesn’t attach enough significance and a great enough penalty for people who engage in aggravated fleeing and harm or kill other members of the community,” Torrez added.
Right now aggravated fleeing is a fourth-degree felony that carries a maximum sentence of a year and a half in prison.
