Police investigating accidents involving fleeing motorists

The Curry County Sheriff’s Office is investigating two vehicle accidents this weekend in which the driver left the scene.

The first incident occurred around 8 p.m. Saturday when deputies responded to a report of a vehicle lying upside down in a ditch near the entrance to Ned Houk Park, Undersheriff Wesley Waller said.

The witnesses who reported the crash said they found the vehicle unoccupied, he said.

Officers made contact with the owner of the vehicle at his residence in Clovis and noted he had what appeared to be fresh injuries, Waller said.

The male said he was at the park and discovered his vehicle had been stolen. He told deputies he caught a ride with friends and saw his upturned car as they left the park but decided to make the report from home.

Waller said evidence of alcohol involvement was found at the crash scene and the case is under investigation.

Around 4 a.m. Monday morning, a passerby on State Road 348 reported a vehicle left the roadway, crashed through a fence and struck a concrete feed trough.

Texico emergency personnel assisted the sheriff’s department in searching the area for the driver but found no one, Waller said.

 Drivers can face additional charges for leaving the scene of a crash, Waller said.

On Sunday, a deputy arrested a man after he fled police in a vehicle, crashed in the county and attempted to flee on foot, Waller said.

The deputy had picked up a Clovis police pursuit that started in the city where the suspect traveled at speeds in excess of 80 mph.

After two to three miles on Curry Road 11, the deputy discontinued pursuit, Waller said. They later came across the suspect’s vehicle in the ditch.

When he saw the suspect fleeing, the deputy gave chase and apprehended the man, who was charged with aggravated DWI, resisting or evading an officer and possession of marijuana and paraphernalia, Waller said.