Written by Officer Ray Wilson 03/31/2022
Albuquerque, NM – On March 31 at around 1:35 a.m. New Mexico State Police Officer Raymundo Lujan III was on patrol on Interstate 40 near Juan Tabo when he saw the headlights of a pickup truck driving westbound straight towards him and other eastbound motorists.
Officer Lujan, who is a veteran member of the New Mexico State Police DWI Unit, activated his emergency equipment to warn drivers and signal for the wrong-way driver to pull over. The Toyota pickup didn’t pull over for the officer’s emergency lights and continued driving westbound in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 40.
Knowing the wrong way Toyota was immediately threatening the lives of eastbound drivers, the quick-thinking State Police officer, decided to turn around and stop the wrong-way driver. In less than a minute after turning around, Officer Lujan performed a PIT maneuver and forced the much larger pickup truck onto the left shoulder of Interstate 40, bringing this potentially deadly encounter to a safe conclusion.
“I am very grateful that this wrong-way driver was stopped before he could kill someone. This could have had a very different outcome, as we have unfortunately seen” said Tim Johnson, Chief of the New Mexico State Police. “Officer Lujan put his life on the line and most certainly saved lives with his split-second reaction to such a deadly situation.”
The driver of the Toyota, Josh Greenling, 41, of Albuquerque, NM admitted to drinking alcohol and taking Oxycodone. Greenling blew a .23 on the breathalyzer, which is more than double the legal limit of .08. He was arrested and booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center charged with Aggravated DWI 1st Offense, Driving on the Wrong Side of the Road, Reckless Driving, and Refusing to Stop for a Police Officer.
No one was injured in this incident which is under investigation by the New Mexico State Police.
