Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

4 N.M. teens die in car crash

|
|
 
  
Published: June 29, 2009 at 9:51 PM

SANTE FE, N.M., June 29 (UPI) -- Authorities in New Mexico say alcohol may have played a role when a wrong-way driver slammed into another car, killing four teenagers.

A fifth youth in the same car was severely injured in the early Sunday collision on the Old Las Vegas Highway in Santa Fe, KOAT-TV, Albuquerque, reported. Investigators said the driver of the car, Avree Koffman, 16, tried unsuccessfully to avoid the oncoming Jeep.

"You're talking about a 100 mph impact," Santa Fe County Undersheriff Robert Garcia said.

The station said police suspect the Jeep's driver, Scott Owens, 28, was under the influence of alcohol.

Koffman was on life support at an Albuquerque hospital, while passengers Rose Simmons, 15; Julian Martinez, 16; Alyssa Trouw, 16; and Kate Klein, 16, died on impact, the TV station said.

Authorities said Owens, who suffered only minor injuries, faced a number of criminal charges, including four counts of vehicular homicide.

Investigators said he had slurred speech and watery eyes when officers arrived but they were awaiting the outcome of blood test results.

Owens had a prior DWI arrest in June 2001, KOAT reported.

© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
The Tibetan Moniam Festival in China Super Bowl XLVI ticker tape victory parade The making of the Oscars
The Chicago Auto Show The Most Desirable Women of 2012 Tu Bishvat Migron settlement
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 25
Meryl Streep and Colin Firth attend the "BAFTA" ceremony in London
View Caption
fark
Trading crack for a lapdance, yelling racial slurs, assaulting police, spitting blood, and beating...
History will remember George H.W. Bush for his part in the first Gulf War, the fall of the Berlin...
And now, pictures of dogs underwater
There are many layers to the OWS onion, and each one is more difficult than the last to peel back....
Remember that YouTube Dad who shot daughter's laptop? Apparently some of the local city leaders...
America has a long history of being VERY VERY ANGRY. But we get over it