Rio Rancho crash injures officer, driver charged in DUI case
An APD officer was hit near Rio Grande and I-40, and police say 57-year-old Susan Gray later tested positive for antidepressant medication and was charged with DUI.
A Rio Rancho patrol stop turned into a roadside injury case when an Albuquerque Police Department unit was T-boned near Rio Grande and Interstate 40, leaving one officer hurt and 57-year-old Susan Gray facing a DUI charge.
Police said the crash happened Saturday night around 10:20 p.m. in Rio Rancho. Gray, driving a black Honda Pilot, was the other driver in what officers described as a random collision, not a chase or a pursuit. Investigators said she appeared unsteady, was speaking slowly, and had taken antidepressant medication just hours before the crash. She later submitted to a blood test that came back positive for the medication, and officers concluded she could not safely operate a vehicle.
The officer’s injuries were described as non-life-threatening, and he is expected to recover. That matters beyond the individual case because it is the kind of crash that can sideline an officer during an ordinary patrol shift and reminds Rio Rancho residents how quickly routine work on a busy roadway can turn into an emergency. Near I-40, even one impaired driver can put public-safety crews, commuters, and nearby traffic at risk in a matter of seconds.
The location also raises a broader question for Sandoval County: whether the Rio Grande and I-40 corridor has become a repeat trouble spot for late-night impaired-driving crashes. The New Mexico Department of Transportation has said crashes along the I-40 corridor have been increasing and are above average for similar facilities, a warning sign for a stretch that already carries heavy daily traffic between Rio Rancho and Albuquerque. State data show the scope of the problem is larger than a single arrest. New Mexico courts adjudicated 8,809 felony and misdemeanor DWI cases in 2023, and 68.8 percent ended in convictions. NMDOT traffic-safety materials also say 164 fatalities in 2023 involved alcohol, representing 38% of crash fatalities statewide.
New Mexico law makes it unlawful to drive under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs, and aggravated DWI can include causing bodily injury while driving impaired. For Rio Rancho police, the crash underscores the stakes of enforcement on a corridor where one bad decision can injure an officer, delay traffic, and add another case to a statewide toll that remains far too high.
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