Inset: Demetrius Thomas (Metropolitan Detention Center/Bernalillo County). Background: The Albuquerque, New Mexico, area where Demetrius Thomas allegedly struck and killed a pedestrian (Google Maps).
A New Mexico man allegedly struck and killed a woman while driving drunk, fled the crash scene and called his father for help. Instead, his father directed police to him and allegedly told officers, “He’s the one who f—ing did it.”
Demetrius Thomas, 34, is accused of fatally hitting the woman with a gray Ford SUV near Central Avenue NE and Texas Street SE in Albuquerque on Sept. 25, according to a criminal complaint obtained by Law&Crime.
Rather than stop, Thomas allegedly drove roughly 0.6 miles to his apartment. The victim remained in the roadway while bystanders attempted CPR, the complaint states.
When officers reached the scene, a man flagged them down and pointed toward a gray SUV leaving the area. According to the complaint, the man was Thomas’ father.
“Come over here because he’s the one who f—ing did it,” the father allegedly told police.
The SUV’s front passenger-side bumper and hood were damaged, and the passenger side of its windshield was caved in. Thomas exited the vehicle and was detained by officers.
Investigators later learned that Thomas had allegedly called his father after the crash and asked him to pick him up. “I’m like, son, what the f— do you want me to do?” his father recalled saying, according to the complaint. “Um, you gotta go back over there. You hit somebody. You don’t know if they hurt or not, you gotta go back over there.”
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Thomas’ father also allegedly asked whether his son had been drinking. Thomas reportedly answered, “Yeah,” according to the complaint.
During police questioning, however, Thomas allegedly denied consuming anything that could impair his driving, including alcohol or drugs.
As officers placed him in a patrol vehicle, they asked again whether he had consumed alcohol. Thomas then allegedly admitted to having “one shot of Admiral Nelson around 9 a.m.”
Thomas allegedly told police the woman “ran out in front of me and I didn’t want to stop,” according to the complaint. He said he had been driving home and was traveling at the speed limit because “there’s a camera right there.”
He also allegedly claimed, “I stepped on the brake and she hit, she ran into the car and I got scared,” according to the complaint.
Thomas allegedly acknowledged that he drove home because he was frightened. He reportedly said his parents later told him to turn himself in.
Police obtained surveillance footage from an Albuquerque Transit bus that allegedly showed Thomas’ SUV traveling on Central Avenue while straddling the left and center lanes. The victim was seen crossing the road southbound before running and being struck on the SUV’s passenger side, according to the complaint. Police said she died “on impact.”
Thomas allegedly failed field sobriety tests, and officers determined that he was “impaired” while driving. He was charged with homicide by vehicle-DWI and knowingly leaving the scene of a death.