By Tom Sharpe
The New Mexican
SANTA FE, N.M —Santa Fe Police have removed air bags from the ambulance involved in last week’s head-on collision that left one woman dead and two others in critical condition, plus a bottle of liquor from the other vehicle’s trunk.
Former employees of Rocky Mountain EMS told The New Mexican that the ambulance’s air bags were deployed two years ago when it was involved in an accident, and they believe the safety devices were never reinstalled.
On Tuesday, state District Judge Michael Vigil signed a search warrant allowing police to search the wrecked 2003 Sprinter Ambulance at the Santa Fe police impound lot on Huey Road.
According to the return and inventory for the search warrant, police removed the vehicle’s speedometer, the air bag from the steering wheel and the air bag CDR, or crash data retrieval device, from under the driver’s seat.
“The search will show if the air bag system was working properly,” says the affidavit for the search warrant signed by officer Anthony Tapia.
Vanessa Carrillo, 19, an emergency medical technician who was driving the ambulance without any passengers, remains hospitalized with severe injuries to her leg, arm and face, but doctors at University Hospital in Albuquerque said she may be home by Saturday.
Kylene Holmes, 26, of El Paso died at the scene of the accident.
She is believed to have been driving drunk the wrong way on Interstate 25 when she slammed into the ambulance driven by Carrillo at 2:24 a.m. Dec. 14.
Holmes’ passenger, Jennifer Michelle Belvin, 38, of Oceanside, Calif., is recovering from her injuries at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center.
The women were served one drink apiece at the Cowgirl BBQ, 319 S. Guadalupe St., sometime before the business closed about 1:30 a.m. Dec. 14. A doorman at the nightclub reportedly tried to get them a ride home, and when they insisted on driving, he called the police to report them.
Vigil also signed a search warrant for Holmes’ 2007 Nissan Altima at the impound lot. The return on that search warrant indicated police also removed its speedometer, the air bag from the steering wheel, the air bag CDR from under the center console, plus a green bottle containing white pills, a green container with “a green leafy substance” and an open bottle of Grey Goose Vodka from the trunk.
Copyright 2010 The Santa Fe New Mexican
All Rights Reserved