NMSP: Semitrailer driver was drunk, heading wrong way on I-40
By Nancy Laflin
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MORIARTY, New Mexico (KOAT) — This story could have had a completely different ending. New Mexico State Police stopped Richard Strach. They say he was driving a semitrailer filled with meat on I-40, Feb. 12 near Moriarty.
Dashcam video shows officers racing down the interstate trying to stop the wrong-way driver before anyone is hurt.
“We are gonna make a line. I’m going to get the drivers out of the road,” an officer says.
Police put down spike strips to deflate the truck’s tires, not knowing if they’ll stop a massive semitrailer.
They did.
When the driver got out, police thought he was impaired. Officers gave him a field sobriety test, then put him in the back of the police car.
“That was crazy though, I don’t even know how that happened, that was crazy,” he said.
Strach said he was driving a truck full of meat from Ohio to California.
He said he was really tired but wanted to get that meat to its destination.
In the video, Strach says he realized he was on the wrong side of the road.
“I know that I was trying to get back over to the right side,” he said.
Police say he drove 13 miles on the wrong side of the interstate. He was charged with DWI, driving on the Wrong Side of the Road and Reckless Driving.
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