By Roger Lanse

A Bayard Police Department officer was dispatched on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, at about 4:20 p.m. to the intersection of Davis Street and Central Avenue regarding a vehicle that had crashed into a building. According to a BPD incident report, a man, later identified as David Rios, 76, of Bayard, had crashed his 2006 blue Dodge Ram pickup into a building owned by Ed Stevens of Hurley. Rios claimed he had pressed the gas pedal instead of the brakes. 

Rios was pinned between the center console and the front seat and had sustained “major lacerations” to his head and was bleeding.  A beer can was stuck in the driver’s side door frame and other opened, cold beer cans in a plastic bag were found on the back passenger seat and floor. The officer, according to the report, was unsure if Rios had opened the cans or if they became opened due to the crash. The report stated the odor of alcohol was detected coming from the interior of the vehicle and Rios admitted to having had a “couple of beers.”

EMS was summoned and extracted Rios from the vehicle and rushed him to the hospital because of his injuries. Witnesses stated they had seen Rios driving recklessly on East Street, fail to stop at a stop sign traveling at a high rate of speed, and crash into the building. Bayard Fire Department Chief Andrew Gonzales declared the building unsafe for officers to enter due to cracks in the right wall and foundation, the report said.

The officer met with Rios at the hospital who was still being treated and he gave permission to have blood drawn. The report stated the officer told Rios he was not going to jail but due to his injuries would be summoned into court at a later date. The blood kit was stored in evidence “until we could send it up the next day.”