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| Photo Credit: AP. |
About 15 persons were injured Friday after a New Mexico man driving without a valid license drove through a Native American parade with his SUV.
The parade celebrates Native American culture in the western part of the state.
The suspect
Jeff Irving, 33, was arrested late Thursday and faces charges that include aggravated
driving while intoxicated, fleeing from officers and injuring parade goers and
two Gallup police officers who tried to stop the vehicle, The Associated Press
cited court documents.
Hate crime ruled as man drives through Native America Parade
New Mexico
State Police said in a statement that investigators have no reason to suspect
the crime was motivated by hate, according to The Associated Press. New Mexico
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said the two people injured including the police
officers, had minor injuries but no death was recorded.
The Associated
Press reported that Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and his family escaped unhurt as the Chevrolet Tahoe barreled
through the parade. The vehicle sped through downtown Gallup about minutes
after the nighttime parade started that served as the kick-off event for the 10-day
Gallup Intertribal Ceremonial Centennial Celebration.
Court
records show Irving’s blood-alcohol content was three times the legal limit for
driving. His license was previously revoked or suspended for another drunken
driving charge and the SUV had no registration or insurance.
Lujan
Grisham said Friday that the state will send additional police officers and a
behavioral health crisis team to Gallup for the rest of the ceremonial event.
“We just ask for your prayers for all of the participants,” Nez said in a video posted on social media, according to The Associated Press. “We’re all shook up. You would see this on television, you would think it would never happen here. I’m sorry to say it happened here in Gallup, New Mexico.”
The driver
swerved onto a side street during the mayhem and pulled into a parking spot
before trying to pull out again. It hit a parked car and backed into a police
car, The Associated Press quoted the state police to have said. The driver was
detained immediately with the two passengers identified as his brothers.