Jan. 8—A man died in a wrong-way crash with a Santa Fe police officer early Wednesday morning on Interstate 25 north of Bernalillo, according to state police.
Roman Moraga, 67, was driving the wrong way on the interstate when he crashed into an off-duty officer who was headed south after a shift, a New Mexico State Police spokesperson confirmed in an email Wednesday evening.
State police were dispatched to the crash at about 1:15 a.m. Wednesday, near Santa Ana Pueblo north of Bernalillo.
Moraga — who was driving a 2006 Dodge Charger — was pronounced dead at the scene by the state Office of the Medical Investigator, state police spokesperson Wilson Silver wrote. The police officer involved was treated for “nonlife-threatening injuries.”
Alcohol “appears to be a determining factor in this crash,” Silver wrote, and the incident is under investigation by state police.
The Santa Fe police officer was taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries after the crash and subsequently released, Santa Fe police Deputy Chief Ben Valdez wrote in an email Wednesday.
Valdez wrote the officer was off duty and was driving home, adding a supervisor was driving behind the officer.
“The supervisor was able to avoid the crash, quickly stopped interstate traffic to avoid further injuries, assessed the condition of the people involved in the crash and immediately requested the response of law enforcement and Fire/EMS personnel,” Valdez wrote.