Rio Rancho police detail crash probe in Sgt. Schlattman’s death

Rio Rancho police say the months-long probe into the crash that killed Sgt. Michael Schlattman was deliberate, not slow-walked. Investigators said they needed time for warrants, interviews, video review and reconstruction work before the file was ready for the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office, which received the case on May 14 and is now reviewing it.

Schlattman, a Bernalillo County sheriff’s sergeant, died February 23 after being struck during a traffic stop on Interstate 40 near Carnuel, close to mile marker 170. Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office officials said he was pinned beneath his department-issued vehicle after a semi hit the rear of the patrol unit. Rio Rancho police said the driver, Miguel Orlando Perez, did not brake before impact.

Investigators said the truck was traveling about 64 mph and found no mechanical problems with either the semi or the patrol vehicle. Sun glare, the patrol unit’s position on the roadway and driver inattention were identified as factors in the crash. The report also centered on Perez’s failure to move over for an emergency vehicle, and investigators said they found probable cause for careless driving and failure to yield to an emergency vehicle.

The case now rests with prosecutors, but the timing of the investigation reflects the level of scrutiny police said was necessary before charges were considered. Complex crashes can take as long as a year to unravel, Rio Rancho police said, because evidence has to be gathered, checked and tested against the physical scene before a case is handed off.

New Mexico law has treated roadside protection as a separate obligation for years. The Legislature first enacted a move-over law in 2001, expanded it in 2005 to cover stationary emergency vehicles and broadened it again in 2019 to include stationary vehicles when drivers can safely move over. Under state law, the violation can bring a $50 fine and four points on a license, while careless driving can carry up to three months in jail, or six months when a death is involved.

The crash also triggered a broader law-enforcement response. Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen has stepped up traffic enforcement in the area through operations dubbed Operation Schlatty, both as a tribute to Schlattman and as a warning to motorists along high-speed corridors. Schlattman, hired by BCSO on April 16, 2012 and promoted to sergeant on July 13, 2024, had served in Special Investigations, Auto Theft and as a task force officer with the U.S. Marshals Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration. His memorial service was held on March 2, the day that would have been his 53rd birthday.

The stakes stretch beyond Bernalillo County. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says every state and Washington, D.C., has a Move Over law, and it says 197 law-enforcement officers were killed in traffic-related crashes between 2021 and 2025. The National Institute of Justice has said motor-vehicle crashes were the leading cause of officer line-of-duty deaths from 2007 to 2016, a reminder that one roadside stop can turn into a fatal scene in seconds.