Alleged hit-and-run driver blamed for teen’s death back behind bars

Oscar Anchondo, the alleged hit-and-run driver accused of killing a teenager in Berino, New Mexico, is back in custody of the Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office after allegedly violating the terms of his release.

Sources tell ABC-7’s New Mexico Mobile Newsroom Anchondo was arrested on the 100 block of Swannack in Vado, New Mexico at about 3 p.m. Wednesday. He was jailed at the Dona Ana County jail without bond.

Last week, an arrest warrant has been issued for Anchondo, arrested in connection to the death of 16-year-old Adalberto Romero on April 3, 2019. Police charged Anchondo with Vehicular Homicide, Tampering with Evidence, Leaving the Scene of an Accident, driving without a license and driving without liability inurance.

A week after the deadly wreck, Judge Douglas R. Driggers decided not to accept the State of New Mexico’s request to hold Anchondo behind bars pending trial. Driggers instead decided to release Anchondo to his mother, Alma Gloria Anchondo, the third party custodian, on a $5,000 bond. The state prosecutor argued Anchondo is “an absolute danger to society and the community who has had numerous encounters with law enforcement and believes the laws do not apply to him.”

When the judge decided to release Anchondo on bond, the prosecution asked for a secured $200,000 bond. The judge, instead, set bond at $5,000.

Last week’s emergency motion to revoke conditions of release states that, on April 16, 2019, a week after Oscar Anchondo was released on bond, Anchondo’s mother called authorities. The woman said her son left her home on April 15, 2019 while she was at a doctor’s appointment. The mother said she repeatedly attempted to call Anchondo, but was unable to speak with him. According to the court document, the mother told authorities “she knows” her son “is using narcotics.”

Under the terms of his release, Anchondo was not to leave his home after 8 p.m. Anchondo was to remain under adult supervision any time he left his home, was prohibited from driving a motor vehicle and could not consume any drugs or alcohol.

A criminal complaint affidavit states Anchondo allegedly told investigators he “was coming off a high” after consuming meth two days before the wreck that killed Romero.

Investigators said Romero was attempting to get into the driver’s seat of his family’s Chevrolet Cobalt just after 8 a.m. on Aero Lane when an SUV, allegedly driven by Anchondo, hit Romero’s car. The crash caused Romero to be thrown into the roadway where he was then hit by Anchondo, investigators said.