PECOS, N.M. — A Brighton man was arrested outside a town 30 miles southeast of Santa Fe, N.M., following an hours-long pursuit by New Mexico State Police officers on Thursday.
The search for 33-year-old Aurelio Carrasco, of Brighton, began at around 10:45 a.m. Thursday after a couple approached New Mexico State Police officers and said a man had exposed his genitals and brandished a weapon at them at a gas station on State Road 50.
Carrasco, who was said to be driving a black Dodge pickup truck pulling a white trailer, fled south on State Road 50 and a chase ensued as officers tried to perform a traffic stop to detain him.
The suspect reportedly drove recklessly, driving the wrong way the state road before crashing the vehicle into three vehicles at State Road 50 and La Cueva Road, New Mexico State Police said in a news release Friday.
Carrasco then fled into the woods before breaking into a home on Pigeon Road, where he reportedly tried to hot-wire a dirk bike. Police were alerted but he fled the area.
Later, officers received a report that Carrasco had stolen a vehicle from the Glorieta Campgroun, and believed he was trying to get back to Colorado, when they found him traveling north on Interstate 25.
“After a brief pursuit, Carrasco drove in the wrong lane and collided head-on with a Ryder moving truck. The driver of that truck suffered injuries not believed to be life-threatening,” New Mexico State Police said in their news release.
Following the crash, Carrasco again fled into the woods, police said, and that’s when New Mexico State Police called on additional resources, including the NMSP Tactical Team, the Aerial Drone Unit, and the NMSP Helicopter (ABLE 7), in order to find him.
It wasn’t until 7:30 p.m. that Carrasco was found on a mountain, about six miles south of Rowe, west of I-25. The suspect was taken into custody and was taken to an area hospital in Santa Fe where he is being treated for the injuries he sustained in the crash earlier that day.
Carrasco is now facing several charges, including: one count of aggravated fleeing a police officer, three counts of each of aggravated assault with a vehicle, leaving the scene of a crash, failing to render aid, and one count of indecent exposure.
New Mexico State Police said the suspect will be booked into the San Miguel County Detention Center in Las Vegas following his release from the hospital.
Carrasco has an open case with the Greeley Police Department in Colorado for resisting arrest and sex assault, stemming from July 26, 2019. A trial in connection with those crimes was supposed to start on Oct. 5 of this year but was never held.