Two people rescued from a back of a U-Haul truck after a wild pursuit in New Mexico
By: Santa Fe, NM - Two people were rescued from the back of a U-Haul moving truck after a man trapped them inside and led law enforcement on a chase in New Mexico, police said.
The two people – a man and a woman – reported that they were helping Stacy Walker, 50, from Sana Fe, clean the truck, the Santa Fe Police Department said.
Suddenly, Walker “slammed the rear door closed on the moving truck, locking them in” and “then immediately began to swerve and drive in a reckless manner, causing both victims to be thrown around in the back of the moving truck,” police said.
Walker eventually was arrested in connection with multiple charges, including kidnapping and aggravated assault on a peace officer, police said.
Defense attorney information wasn’t listed in court records the morning of April 10.
Police said they were alerted at about 8 a.m. April 8 by a caller asking “for a welfare check concerning someone possibly in the back storage area of a U-Haul moving truck, who was banging on the door.”
A sheriff’s deputy spotted the U-Haul and tried to make contact with the driver, but Walker fled, police said.
A Santa Fe police officer then tried to pull over the U-Haul, and “Mr. Walker failed to stop and ran a red light,” according to police.
A pursuit involving a drone team, multiple law enforcement agencies and tire deflation devices unfolded, with Walker fleeing through highway traffic and a neighborhood before eventually stopping on a sidewalk after most of the moving truck’s tires had been deflated, according to police.
Law enforcement found the man and woman in the back of the U-Haul, police said. Medics were brought in to evaluate them, and the man reported that his back was hurt while inside the truck, according to police.
During the chase, Walker is accused of veering the U-Haul toward a sheriff’s deputy who was outside his vehicle, and toward a Santa Fe police car, according to police.