Where is Roque Lucero?

Santa Fe police still can't find the 40-year-old Santo Domingo Pueblo man who they said Wednesday was intoxicated when he slammed into a car carrying an elderly Tibetan scholar Sunday. Lobsang Lhalungpa, 82, died Monday of internal injuries he suffered in the crash on St. Michael's Drive.

Lucero hasn't reported to the Penitentiary of New Mexico, where he worked as a corrections officer in the maximum security wing, since the crash and was fired Wednesday, said Tia Bland, spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections. "He hasn't shown up and he hasn't called," Bland said. "That's enough that he will be let go on that basis."

Santa Fe Police Capt. Gary Johnson said detectives have asked U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs police to find out if Lucero is somewhere on Santo Domingo Pueblo, but hadn't heard anything from them by Wednesday afternoon.

"As of right now, nobody has been able to contact Mr. Lucero," he said.

Johnson said he thinks Lucero is hiding. "I have no other choice but to believe (that) based on the fact that he hasn't called police to explain his side of the story," he said. "You'd think that would be the first thing you'd do."

Lucero was allegedly at the wheel of a 2005 Dodge pickup that police have said "shot out" of the Kmart parking lot and hit the 1990 Subaru station wagon carrying Lhalungpa and his wife just behind the driver's door. All four people in the pickup fled the scene on foot, though police recaptured two of them. Police initially said they caught three of the four, though Lucero and a fourth unidentified man got away.

The two who were caught — 35-year-old Luis Lucero and Santa Nita, 38 — as well as witnesses to the crash have said Roque Lucero — who has a history of drunken driving — was intoxicated at the time, Johnson said.

"Based on statements made by witnesses and the passengers, he was under the influence," Johnson said.

Police have said they found two open beer cans in the truck. Johnson declined to say why the passengers and witnesses thought Roque Lucero was drunk, citing an ongoing investigation into the accident.

Roque Lucero has not yet been charged in connection with the incident, though police consider the case a high priority and are working closely with the District Attorney's Office on it, Johnson said. "Certainly, the driver will face charges," he said. Luis Lucero and Nita also could face charges, he said.

Though police originally said two of Roque Lucero's brothers were caught, Johnson on Wednesday said he didn't know if Roque and Luis Lucero were related.

Roque Lucero pleaded guilty to DWI in April 1989 in Sandoval County Magistrate Court and again in April 1992 in Metropolitan Court in Albuquerque, according to online court records. Another DWI, from January 1989, was dismissed in Metropolitan Court, records indicate.

Also, police picked up Roque Lucero four times between 2000 and 2003 and put him in to protective custody at the Santa Fe County jail until he sobered up, according to online jail records. Those incidents occurred in July 2000, March 2001, March 2003 and June 2003, records indicate. Generally, a person is put into protective custody when they are too intoxicated to care of themselves, said Deputy Police Chief Aric Wheeler.

Bland said Roque Lucero began work at the state pen Feb. 2. The prison hiring committee knew about his DWI history, but decided to give him a chance because his last DWI occurred seven years ago, she said. A court record of that DWI couldn't be located Wednesday.

Lhalungpa had lived in Santa Fe for 18 years but was born in Tibet in 1926 and became a monk official under the 14th Dalai Lama. He was named one of Santa Fe's Living Treasures in 1998 for his efforts to keep traditional Tibetan culture alive.

Contact Jason Auslander at 986-3076 or :jauslander@sfnewmexican.com.