In response to a number of Inspection of Public Records requests, the city of Santa Fe released the police report on a minor car accident where Bill Richardson rear-ended another driver.
The report indicates that alcohol was not a factor and said that the first driver said Richardson (in the police report as D2) said “It popped a little bit, but I think it was a little hit.”
Richardson was cited for following too closely and leaving the scene of an accident.
The accident happened while driving northbound on Paseo de Peralta while at the intersection with E. Marcy St. at just before 8:30 a.m. There was no apparent damage on either vehicle.
Richardson was driving a yellow Jeep on the wet roads.
The other driver said that Richardson hit her car twice; the first was “hard enough and pushed her into the intersection.” It was at this time that she pulled onto E. Marcy Street, but Richardson’s car drove straight on Paseo de Peralta.
The officer also quoted Richardson as saying “It was a stop light and I think I barely popped it” and that he would fix it.
A witness saw the accident and spotted Ricahardon’s vehicle “in a private parking lot.” When he drove with the first driver back to the private parking lot, the Jeep was gone.
Richardson made a number of media appearances on cable TV from a studio in the Roundhouse on Wednesday related to the apparent nuclear test by North Korea.
The “narrative” portion of the police report is below; other portions of the report include personal information on Richardson, the other driver and the witness.
While governor, Richardson was well-known for his driver breaking the speed limit.
As a former Albuquerque Tribune writer wrote in Salon in 2005, “He (or, more accurately, his driver) has now been caught speeding in state vehicles so many times, by press and police, that he made a pledge this summer to travel the speed limit.”
