By: ABQ RAW staff
Posted: 3/29/2023 at 2:30PM
Updated: 3/29/2023 @ 3:00PM (corrected dates of prior arrests)
SE Albuquerque – According to a criminal complaint, two people, including a young girl, were critically injured on Monday morning when the driver of a stolen vehicle ran a stop sign and crashed into their vehicle in Southeast Albuquerque on March 27th, 2023.
New Mexico State Police and the Albuquerque Police Department were trying to apprehend John Eugene Bearden Jr., 37. He is accused of stealing a New Mexico government vehicle from the New Mexico State Fairgrounds in SE Albuquerque. The employee was warming up the vehicle when the vehicle was stolen. Bearden, the driver of the stolen vehicle ran a stop sign and t-boned a gray Jeep SUV in the intersection at San Pedro and Bell. The vehicles came to rest in the front yard of 600 San Pedro Dr., S.E.
PATREON MEMBERS CAN READ THE FULL COMPLAINT HERE: www.patreon.com/posts/80736391
The complaint goes on to say that Bearden told officers that he had relapsed on methamphetamine and three people told him to steal the vehicle. “I don’t do drugs, drugs do me,” Bearden told investigators.
The complaint states that officers observed behaviors consistent with meth use, and police asked him to do a blood draw. He told them, “I am not taking any field sobriety tests!” Police were able to get a warrant for a blood draw anyways.
The occupants of the Jeep, a 43-year-old male driver, and a 10-year-old girl, were transported to the hospital for life-threatening injuries. A GoFundMe states that the adult has serious head injuries. The 10-year-old girl has undergone a craniotomy to reduce the pressure caused by her brain injury. She also sustained a fractured femur and pelvis along with damage to her liver and chest. Due to a collapsed lung, Penny has been intubated and is still unable to breathe on her own.
Bearden is charged with unlawful taking of a motor vehicle and two counts of great bodily injury involving a vehicle. The DWI charges are pending the blood screen results. Bearden is no stranger to the law with a criminal record dating back several years but with very few convictions in the New Mexico court system.
***Editors Note – NM Courts have been confusing Eugene Bearden Jr and Sr’s records and combining both of their records on Eugene Sr’s record.***