A New Mexico police officer and an uninvolved motorist were killed Wednesday after they crashed into the vehicle of a kidnapping suspect during a freeway chase in Santa Fe, according to authorities.
Robert Duran, 43, was identified as the cop. Duran joined the force as a cadet in 2015 and is survived by a wife and two teenage sons.
The crash, which occurred Wednesday morning on Interstate 25, involved two Santa Fe patrol units, the fleeing vehicle, and an uninvolved vehicle, the Santa Fe Police Department wrote in a news release.
“A Santa Fe Police Officer and an uninvolved motorist died in the crash,” the department said.
Police received a call around 11 a.m., regarding a kidnapping in progress at the Rancho Vizcaya Apartments in the city. A man armed with a knife took a vehicle that was occupied by a woman, police said.
Around 11:15 a.m., police spotted a vehicle in the area that belonged to the potential suspect, the release stated. Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver fled onto Interstate 25, traveling northbound in the southbound traffic.
“Between the Old Pecos Trail exit and the Eldorado Exit, the driver got on to the northbound lane of traffic traveling southbound,” police said. “A crash occurred at Mile Marker 286 in the northbound lane.”
After the crash, the woman in the fleeing vehicle managed to get out and was transported to a local hospital, according to the release.
Police are still searching for the kidnapping suspect.
A woman who witnessed the crash said she was driving on I-25 when a white vehicle came straight at her “with cop cars behind it.” according to the Santa Fe New Mexican.
“He was still going incorrectly,” the unidentified witness told the paper. “The next thing I see there was vehicles everywhere, including cop cars, and smoke everywhere.”
Following the crash, Interstate 25 and Old Las Vegas Highway were closed to motor vehicle and pedestrian traffic, police said.
Multiple agencies were on scene and area residents were advised to stay in their homes during the manhunt for the suspect, police added.