UPDATE: Police ID Woman Killed In Collision With Army Armored Vehicle
Police identified a woman who died after a head-on collision between a van and a military armored vehicle Thursday morning on U.S. 54 at Stan Roberts.
At least six other people were injured.
The crash occurred about 9 a.m. and involved an Army Mine Resistant Ambush Protected, or MRAP, and a transport van.
Police said the front-seat passenger of the van, 34-year-old Imelda Diaz, died after the crash. She was taken to Beaumont Army Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.
The van belonged to the company G4S Secure Solutions, which transports federal prisoners to and from court hearings. Diaz was was an employee of the company. The driver and five others were taken to area hospitals.
Lew Pincus, a spokesman for G4S, which is headquartered in Florida, said Diaz had worked for G4S since 2006. She was a transportation security officer for the El Paso sector of the Border Patrol.
The van, a 2010 Ford Econoline prisoner transport van, was going to the Otero County Jail, but Pincus could not say where it was coming from. The van had a total of eight occupants inside, the driver a guard and six prisoners.
The driver, also a transportation security officer, has been released from the hospital with minor injuries, Pincus said.
Pincus said he didn’t know how the detainees’ security risk and doesn’t know what restraints the detainees had (handcuffs, etc) or which procedures needed to be taken.
“All of us are trying to be supportive of the family of Imelda Diaz,” Pincus said. “We are providing full support to Special Traffic investigators.”
Police said the six prisoners appear to have not been wearing seat belts. All other occupants were secured in their vehicles by safety restraints. All other injuries are believed to be non-life threatening. At this time no charges have been filed.
Pincus said G4S is an outsource security firm that operates in 120 countries. They provide security to government services, commercial businesses, nuclear and petrochemical facilities, etc. It operates in 130 cities in the U.S. And may have an office in El Paso.
Special Traffic Unit investigators said the MRAP was driven by 23-year-old Bradley Crawford, who began to cross Gateway North after stopping for a stop sign on Stan Roberts. The front of the MRAP collided with the right side passenger door of the Econoline. No one in the MRAP was injured.
Officials said U.S. 54 was closed until 2 p.m. People traveling to Alamogordo were urged to use an alternate route.
According to Wikipedia, the MRAP is a family of armored fighting vehicles design led by the United States Marine Corps in use by the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, and Special Operations Forces with the goal of surviving IED attacks and ambushes. It was prompted by U.S. deaths in Iraq.
