Written by Officer Ray Wilson 05/02/2022
Lea County, NM – On Wednesday, April 28, at around 2:30 p.m., New Mexico State Police Officers were dispatched to a crash involving two pickups and a tractor-trailer on NM State Road 176 milepost 17 west of Eunice, NM.
The initial investigation indicated that a 2018 Peterbilt tractor-trailer and a 2022 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 were both stopped in the eastbound lane for construction being performed on the road. For reasons still under investigation an eastbound 2021 Ford F-350 pulling a flatbed trailer rear-ended the Chevrolet, pushing into the back of the Peterbilt.
The driver of the Chevrolet, Cortney DeWayne Hartman, 43, and passenger Christopher Daniel Barrandey 52, both of Odessa, TX sustained fatal injuries in the crash and were pronounced deceased on the scene by the Office of the Medical Investigator. The driver of the Ford pickup was transported to a Lubbock TX hospital. The driver of Peterbilt was uninjured.
Alcohol is not believed to be a factor and seatbelts were worn at the time of the crash. The crash is being investigated by the New Mexico State Police with assistance from the New Mexico State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Bureau, Drone Team and Crash Reconstruction Team.