TULAROSA, NM — A 24-year-old man is facing DWI-related charges after a three-vehicle crash in Tularosa injured 11 people, according to New Mexico State Police. Officers said the collision happened Friday afternoon at U.S. 70 and Old Mescalero Road and involved a black Chevrolet passenger car, a white van and a silver SUV.
Investigators said witnesses told them the Chevrolet driver, Oren J. Shanta, was heading north on Old Mescalero Road at a high rate of speed and failed to stop at the stop sign before entering U.S. 70. State police said the car then struck the van and the SUV. No one died in the crash, but several people needed medical care.
Witnesses say the driver sped through the stop sign before impact
According to state police, the crash scene drew officers at about 4:04 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6. The agency said the account from witnesses pointed to the Chevrolet entering the highway without stopping, setting off the chain of collisions that followed.
Police identified the van as carrying 10 people and the SUV as carrying three people. The Chevrolet was also occupied, though the agency did not give a total number of people in that vehicle. The force of the crash injured passengers across all three vehicles, creating a fast-moving rescue response in Otero County.
State police did not say whether road conditions, visibility or other factors contributed to the collision beyond the alleged speeding and stop-sign violation. The crash remains a serious local case because of the number of people hurt and the need for emergency crews to reach multiple victims at once.
Fire crews rescued three people trapped inside the van
When officers reached the intersection, medical crews were already treating injured people, according to state police. Fire crews then rescued three people who were trapped inside the white van, an indication of how badly the vehicle was damaged in the collision.
Authorities said at least six passengers from the van, two people from the Chevrolet and Shanta were taken to a local hospital. Two additional passengers from the van were flown by air ambulance to a hospital in El Paso for treatment.
The agency did not identify the injured people or provide details about the severity of their injuries. State police said the conditions of those hurt were still unknown, leaving the full extent of the medical impact unclear as of the latest update.
Officers said they smelled alcohol on Shanta at the scene
State police said officers noticed signs they believed showed impairment when they spoke with Shanta after the crash. They also reported smelling alcohol on him at the scene, which led to the DWI-related case.
After the investigation, officers arrested Shanta on charges of Great Bodily Harm by Vehicle, which is tied to DWI, and Reckless Driving. Those charges reflect the seriousness of the allegations and the injuries reported in the crash.
The case is being handled by New Mexico State Police, which has not said whether additional charges are possible. The agency’s account ties the arrest directly to what witnesses described and what officers observed after arriving at the intersection.
The crash left eleven people injured but no deaths were reported
Police said the crash injured 11 people in total. That number includes people from the van, the Chevrolet and the driver accused of causing the wreck. Despite the size of the crash and the number of people hurt, state police said there were no fatalities.
The mix of hospital transport and air ambulance transfer suggests the crash created a wide range of injuries, from people able to be moved by ground to others needing faster transport to a larger medical facility. But investigators have not released a breakdown of which injuries were most severe.
For now, the main facts are straightforward: a Friday afternoon crash at a busy roadway in Tularosa left multiple victims hurt, prompted rescue crews to free trapped passengers and ended with DWI-related charges against the driver investigators say caused the wreck.
U.S. 70 intersection remains at the center of the investigation
The collision happened at the intersection of U.S. 70 and Old Mescalero Road, a location now central to the state police investigation. That roadway connection is important because it is where witnesses say the Chevrolet failed to stop before entering traffic.
State police have not released further details about the vehicles’ speeds, the sequence of each impact or whether any roadway evidence helped confirm the witness statements. They also have not said how long the road scene remained active after the crash.
What officials have made clear is that the incident involved multiple vehicles, a large number of passengers and a response that required both medical and fire crews. With the injured people’s conditions still unknown, the case remains focused on recovery, the arrest and the questions investigators are still working through.
