Former sheriff’s deputy’s BAC allegedly over legal limit night of deadly hit-and-run

The trial of 49-year-old Raymundo Carranza, the former El Paso County sheriff’s deputy charged with accident involving personal injury or death, is underway at the County Courthouse in Downtown El Paso.

On May 12, 2012, Carranza was heading east on Spur 601 in a Honda Ridgeline when he allegedly struck 26-year-old Richard Lopez as he was changing a flat tire by the side of the road. Lopez died at the scene.

Police said Carranza failed to stop and render aid, but returned to the scene later. At the time, investigators would not tell ABC-7 how long it was before Carranza returned to the scene. Police also told ABC-7 Lopez was not pulled over entirely to the right shoulder.

In court Tuesday, prosecutors told jurors Carranza returned to the scene after two hours. He allegedly told police he may have hit something. Officers arrested him at the scene and had his blood drawn at the hospital. Test results allegedly showed he had a blood alcohol content level of .106, which is over the legal limit of .08.

Prosecutors showed jurors a recording of Carranza’s interview with police detectives. In it, Carranza is heard telling detectives he had “three cape cods and a beer” at a restaurant with friends. Carranza is then heard saying he went to a bar, where he had another beer.

The defense countered by arguing Lopez stopped his car in the right lane instead of the shoulder with the driver’s side door open, making the accident unavoidable. It also argued Carranza did not turn around because his Honda Ridgeline had overheated.

Julian Saucedo, a witness for the prosecution, testified he had accidentally left his cell phone on the roof of his mother’s car and waited until she arrived home from work so that they could drive the route to search for his phone.

During the search, Saucedo said he and his mother spotted Lopez on the side of the road changing a tire. He and his mother slowly drove by Lopez and turned around at the Global Reach exit. He told the jury that when they turned around, he spotted a Honda pickup with with a broken headlight and hanging front bumper just past the area where Lopez had been.

Saucedo told the jury they later spotted the body and car belonging to Lopez and he jumped the median and called 911 on his mother’s cell phone. During the description of Lopez’s condition, a woman sitting in the front pews of the courtroom ran out crying.

During cross examination, Saucedo acknowledged he has been charged with DWI twice. The defense asked Saucedo if he had made any deals with prosecutors for leniency, to which he replied “no.”

According to ABC-7 archives, Carranza, a 17-year veteran with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, met with Sheriff Richard Wiles in regards to the incident and resigned on May 14, 2012.

“It’s a tragic situation and our thoughts and prayers go out to the victim’s family,” Sheriff Richard Wiles told ABC-7 at the time.

Lopez’s wife Amanda, spoke with ABC-7 shortly after Carranza’s resignation. At the time, she said it did little to ease her family’s pain.

“I cannot believe that being in the position that he is in, he left my husband on the side of the road for death,” Amanda Lopez said. “Who knows if, during the time he left, he could have made a difference (and) rendered aid the way he’s been trained to do and sworn by duty to do. It’s just unbelievable, and I’m still in shock.”