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Albuquerque police announced on Wednesday that they had arrested another teenager in connection with a deliberate hit-and-run incident targeting a bicyclist. The teenager faces charges of murder and other offenses.
According to detectives, it was revealed that the teenager was the fourth individual involved in the stolen car that struck and killed 63-year-old physicist Scott Dwight Habermehl while he was cycling to work at Sandia National Laboratories.
The teen arrested Wednesday was 15 at the time of the May 2024 crash.
The others included a boy who had just turned 11 and two other teens.
Video of the crash was recorded from inside the car and circulated on social media.
It was reported to authorities earlier this year by people including a middle school principal after a student flagged it.
Authorities stated that as part of the investigation, several individuals came forward to inform the detectives that they recognized the voice of the fourth suspect from a video that had been circulated on social media.
The teen had denied being the car during an earlier interview with police, but detectives learned that he had shared details about the crash and the police investigation with friends through social media conversations.
The Associated Press doesn’t typically name people under 18 accused of a crime.
The case was among those highlighted by Democratic New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham as well as Republican lawmakers and prosecutors as they pleaded with the Democratic-led Legislature to address juvenile crime across the state.
Although vowing to do so, the governor has yet to call a special session to bring lawmakers back to consider new legislation.