Five days after a fatal crash involving an Albuquerque police sergeant, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office cannot say where the information came from that the officer was looking for a drunken driver at the time of the wreck.

That was the initial report from a captain of the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, hours after the 2:30 a.m. Sunday crash that killed one young woman and seriously injured her sister.

APD officers were first to respond to the scene, but primary responsibility for the investigation was turned over to BCSO to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.

However, now the Sheriff’s Office can’t say where the report about the suspected drunken driver originated – whether it was something APD Sgt. Adam Casaus said to Sheriff’s investigators after he struck Lindsay Browder’s Honda C-RV with his police SUV, whether it came from Albuquerque police dispatch records or whether it was conveyed to BCSO by other APD officers.

Bernalillo County sheriff’s deputies investigate at the scene of a fatal crash early Sunday involving an APD SUV and a smaller SUV at the corner of Paseo del Norte and Eagle Ranch.

In an interview this week, Deputy Aaron Williamson could not provide a description of the vehicle Casaus was looking for, didn’t know whether a bulletin was put out for the vehicle, whether APD dispatch had alerted Casaus to the drunken driver, or whether the sergeant had personally observed the vehicle and called it out over his police radio.

The Journal informally requested the dispatch records from APD on Tuesday but was told to file a formal request under the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act. The request is pending.

There are still more questions than answers surrounding the circumstances of the crash.

Casaus’ shift ended at 11 p.m. Saturday, APD officer Tasia Martinez said earlier this week. She didn’t know whether he was working overtime at the time of the crash, where he had been prior to the crash or where he was going.

What is known is that Casaus was driving west on Paseo del Norte around 2:30 a.m. with his emergency lights and sirens engaged when he T-boned Browder’s vehicle in the intersection at Eagle Ranch Road NW. Browder, 19, was driving north.

She was taken to University of New Mexico Hospital with a broken hip and a broken spine, according to BCSO. She has since been released.

Her passenger, 21-year-old sister Ashley Browder, died at the scene of the crash, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Casaus, who is assigned to the APD Southwest Area Command, was also taken to the hospital but was released later Sunday.

Casaus was at home recovering this week, Martinez said. When he returns to work, he will be assigned to desk duty, pending the outcome of BCSO’s investigation, she said.

Williamson this week again declined to say which of the drivers ran a red light just prior to the crash. That’s part of the investigation, he said, which could take as long as a month.

BCSO executed a search warrant for the electronic recording “black box” from Casaus’ police vehicle, Williamson said, to determine how fast the sergeant was driving and, potentially, whether he applied the brakes before the crash.

Williamson said he assumed chemical tests were performed to determine whether Casaus or Lindsay Browder had been drinking, but investigators hadn’t gotten the results back yet.
— This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal