Motorcyclist Dies After Crashing In Parking Lot Of Bar

Police said after a 31-year-old man left a Las Cruces bar early Sunday morning, he lost control and crashed his motorcycle in the parking lot at Missouri Avenue and South Solano Drive.

According to police, Jesus Castro-Roman was asked to leave Hurricane Alley around 12:30 a.m.

Now the bar’s owner, Marci Dickerson, is speaking out, saying her staff did everything they could to try and prevent a tragedy

“My staff did everything that we could do to keep this from happening,” Dickerson said.

Unfortunately, it was not enough, Dickerson said.

She says Castro-Roman had been drinking beer and buying rounds of shots for others. When his behavior turned aggressive toward some women, Dickerson said, her staff stopped serving him.

“At that point the bartender cut him off and notified my security staff,” Dickerson said. “The security staff then approached him and told him that no, it was time to go thank you very much; we then walked him to the door.”

Security offered to pay for his cab ride home, Dickerson said, but Castro-Roman repeatedly refused, and said he was going to walk since he lived nearby.

“In this case, once they leave our doors and once we’ve asked them for cabs and they’ve refused and said they’re walking, that’s all legally we can do,” Dickerson said.

Instead of continuing home on foot, police say Castro-Roman got on his motorcycle.

For whatever reason, Dickerson says Castro-Roman then sped toward the bar, hit a curb, and his body flung off the bike and into a metal police.

Police said he died shortly after at the hospital.

“We are not allowed to forcefully detain people,” Dickerson said. “We are not allowed to chase peple down; we can’t physically restrain them; so when someone says they’re going to walk, that’s fine, we believe them – we watched him walk away.”

Dickerson says her staff exercise the strictest rules when it comes to monitoring how much a customer has had to drink, as in this case. But she emphasizes the importance of also using common sense and planning ahead before a night of drinking.

“The sad thing is this is a tragedy that could have been avoided,” Dickerson said. “It could have been avoided if he would have exercised a designated driver or he would have accepted the cab ride home that we offered him several times.”

This is not the first time Hurricane Alley has been associated with a tragedy.

As reported back in 2004, an NMSU student died from alcohol poisoning after drinking there and a few other bars in town.

Since then, ownership has changed and Dickerson says her staff follows strictly enforced rules while serving customers.

Police say Castro-Roman is believed to be from east Texas and living in Las Cruces as of recent.