Woman awaits trial in alleged DWI crash that seriously injured Albuquerque firefighter

Trembling and with bloodshot eyes, a woman told an officer, “I can’t believe I hit somebody,” after she allegedly struck an on-duty firefighter as she exited Interstate 40 in the early hours of the morning in October.

Police say Rebecca Melchor was driving drunk, and in recently published lapel video, the gravity of the situation seemed to weigh heavy on her face, lit by the flashing blue and red of police lights.

In the body camera video posted to the Law & Crime YouTube Channel, which has been viewed more than 170,000 times as of Thursday, the 24-year-old profusely apologized and relentlessly asked if the injured firefighter would “be OK” as she took field sobriety tests.

The firefighter recovered from serious injuries sustained in the crash but has not returned to work, Albuquerque Fire Rescue spokesperson Lt. Jason Fejer said Thursday.

Melchor is awaiting trial on several charges, including aggravated DWI, inflicting great bodily harm by vehicle and having an open container. In November, she pleaded not guilty. Her attorney could not be reached for comment.

This story is not entirely uncommon in New Mexico. In 2024, 18 pedestrians were killed in drunken driving incidents, according to statistics from the New Mexico Department of Transportation. Overall, 80 people died in car crashes caused by DWI from January to November.

In 2024, there were 1,589 people convicted of driving while intoxicated in Bernalillo County’s 2nd Judicial District Court, according to a District Attorney’s Office news release. In 10 of those cases, the defendant was found guilty of vehicular homicide, having killed someone in a crash.

In the early morning of Oct. 27, Albuquerque Fire Rescue responded to a vehicle rollover on northbound Interstate 25, Fejer said. While responding to the crash, a firefighter was struck by a vehicle taking the Comanche exit.

The force of impact caused “a loss of consciousness and serious injuries,” Fejer said. An officer from the Isleta Police Department who was at the scene reported that the driver came to such an abrupt stop that they “could hear the brakes lock up.”

When New Mexico State Police arrived at the scene, according to court documents, they watched the seriously injured firefighter leave in an ambulance.

Shortly after, police approached Melchor, who was sitting in a nearby Volkswagen with a damaged windshield.

Court documents detail that she was reportedly “distraught and erratic” and smelled of alcohol. Melchor told police that she drank half a “bottle of wine” and a vodka cranberry before she got on the road that night, court documents detail.

Melchor told police she had been at a Downtown bar and left after a fight involving her sister and other women. Melchor was arrested at the scene, and an open Mike’s Hard Lemonade was found in her vehicle.