Post by Scumhunter on Dec 21, 2021 5:00:07 GMT -5
(Above: Sergio Almanza (left) has been charged in the fatal hit-and-run that killed 7-year-old Pronoy Bhattacharya. (right) Photo Credit: abqjournal.com)
From the Albuquerque Journal (abqjournal.com):
Detectives believe a 27-year-old Belen man was drinking at a Nob Hill bar Sunday minutes before running a red light in an off-road vehicle and fatally striking a 7-year-old boy who was leaving the River of Lights with his family.
Sergio Almanza is charged with homicide by vehicle, knowingly leaving the scene of an accident and tampering with evidence in the death of Pronoy Bhattacharya. A warrant was issued for Almanza’s arrest.
“Police served a warrant at his home today in Belen, and it appears he has fled. He is now considered a fugitive,” Gilbert Gallegos, an Albuquerque police spokesman, said Thursday.
Pronoy and his family were using a crosswalk at Central and Tingley when an off-road vehicle ran a red light, striking Pronoy and his father.
The vehicle fled west on Central, and Pronoy, who was a second grader at Georgia O’Keeffe Elementary School, was pronounced dead at the scene. His father was hospitalized with facial fractures and is expected to recover.
Pronoy’s mother told the Journal that she, her husband, Pronoy and his little brother had been at the River of Lights – visiting Santa’s Workshop to Pronoy’s delight – before the crash.
Police said video footage shows Almanza drinking at a Nob Hill bar before heading down Central and hitting Pronoy and his father. A friend of Almanza’s told police he admitted to the crash when he stashed the vehicle in the friend’s backyard.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit filed in Metropolitan Court:
Officers responded around 8:30 p.m. to the crash at Central and Tingley. Witnesses told police the off-road vehicle, with up to three people inside, ran the red light and struck Pronoy and his father.
Police said surveillance video showed the driver, estimated to be traveling 50 mph in the 35 mph zone, tried to brake before hitting the father and son, and then fled the scene. Detectives identified the vehicle as a 2018 Can Am off-road vehicle, using the serial number from a fender at the scene.
The next day, police received an anonymous tip that the vehicle was parked in the backyard of a home near Coors and Central. Detectives found the vehicle had damage consistent with the crash and possible blood in the wheel well.
Additional tips came in identifying Almanza as the driver and claiming he had driven the vehicle to and from El Sinaloense Mariscos and Grill in Nob Hill before the crash. Police said video footage showed a man who they believed to be Almanza and two other men drinking at the restaurant before leaving around 8:15 p.m.
Video surveillance along Central tracked Almanza from the restaurant to the scene of the crash, police said. Detectives found pictures of the vehicle on Almanza’s Facebook page and a Dec. 13 post: “Stop pointing fingers at me and tagging me in (expletive)” – adding that his Can Am can’t go over 10 mph.
Police returned to the house where the vehicle was found and a man inside told detectives he wanted to help them with the case. The man, Almanza’s friend, told police Almanza had been riding with a group in off-road vehicles all day.
He said later that night Almanza wanted to store the off-road vehicle in his backyard because “something bad happened.” The man said Almanza showed up “very nervous” and told him, “I just hit a kid,” before leaving.
The man told police that, afterward, Almanza asked him to help clean the vehicle but he refused, and Almanza showed up to repair the vehicle. The man said when police initially showed up, Almanza advised him to let officers “have his Can Am.”
The man told police he hadn’t heard from Almanza in a couple of days, “which is not normal because they always talk to each other.”
Almanza’s Facebook post denying his involvement, which is public, has been shared almost 50 times.
One person who shared it wrote, “Imagine killing a 7 year old and then acting like this.”
www.abqjournal.com/2454890/man-charged-in-crash-that-killed-7-year-old.html
Thoughts? As of this posting date (December 21st, 2021), Almanza still shows as having a warrant in Bernalillo County's public access online search. To call this case a tragedy is an understatement- not to mention tragedies are unavoidable- while this was a completely avoidable situation if not for Almanza's alleged idiocy- even more outraging is doubling down on allegedly failing to take responsibility by making a woe is me Facebook post about it denying any involvement.
app.bernco.gov/warrants/Warrant.aspx
Admin Note #1: According to online articles, anyone having information on this fugitive's whereabouts should contact Albuquerque Crime Stoppers: www.crimestoppersnm.com/sitemenu.aspx?ID=531&
Admin Note #2: If you have any (news-related) updates on this case, please contact us here: amwfans.com/thread/1662/website-contact-form
