ALBUQUERQUE, NM (KRQE) – Police say a crime spree over the weekend by a carload of teens, ended in a fatal crash. Before that crash, police believe the teens stopped and attacked a homeless man. An employee from the Denny’s at San Mateo Blvd. sprung into action when he saw a homeless man getting beat up. He says what he witnessed was horrible.
Around 2 in the morning on Mar. 20, a homeless man went into Denny’s for a meal. One of the servers recognized him. “He does frequently come in for food and coffee. Sometimes people buy him food, we allow that cause he doesn’t cause any trouble, he minds his own business,” explains Zach Campbell.
But after he paid for his food and left things took a violent turn. An employee saw a car pull up, but noticed they weren’t coming to eat. “We end up seeing that they jump this poor homeless guy and they beat him with his own stick. The poor guy ended up in the fetal position…covering his own face and it was horrible,” says Campbell.
His coworkers called the police but Zach Campbell couldn’t just stand by and watch. “I immediately ran out and shouted at them, stop get off of him, and when I got close enough I put my hands out and told them to stop.”
Eventually, the group of eight or nine people fled the scene in a black four-door sedan. “They were either teenagers or recently in college, doesn’t matter how old you are, you don’t treat someone like that.”
Police believe it was the same carload of teens that was involved in a hit-and-run crash after a party in the area of Lead Ave. and Pine St. The Nissan Altima smashed into another vehicle and fled.
Then after the beating of the homeless man near Denny’s the car full of teens crashed on university under I-40. A 19-year-old boy and a 17-year-old girl died in the rollover. Seven others, ages 16 to 19 were injured in the crash. Most of them were critically injured.
Denny employees say paramedics did come to the scene but the victim denied medical help. The crash victims’ identities have still not been released by the police. APD says speed, alcohol, and the number of passengers, all played a role in the crash.
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