City: Non-drunk official in an accident

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Copyright © 2021 Albuquerque Journal

During a televised debate Tuesday, Hope Mayor and Bernalillo County Sheriff Manuel Gonzales hit out at incumbent Tim Keller with a series of allegations, including one about “a senior civil servant in the city ​​who drove while intoxicated and was involved in driving an urban vehicle and involved in an accident.

Gonzales did not mention the official’s name, but his campaign later confirmed that Gonzales was referring to COO Lawrence Rael.

Laurent Rael

In a statement Thursday, city spokeswoman Ava Montoya confirmed that Rael had been in an accident, but called Gonzales’ drunk driving allegations “false, defamatory and unfortunately motivated only by a political gain “.

The CFA allegation relates to a spoiler that Rael entered on September 14 while driving an urban vehicle. The incident happened around 9.45 am while Raël was driving on the fifth, turned left at the green light in Tijeras. It’s around the corner from the town hall. It hit a black truck, according to a city of Albuquerque risk management report dated September 29.

Le Journal was unable to reach the driver of the truck on Thursday, but she told KOAT-TV that she didn’t think Rael was intoxicated.

After the accident, she told the station, Rael approached her before she could get out of her truck. She said Rael gave her his card and that he worked for the mayor.

“It was very simple… Really weird, no cop, it was very simple, very fast,” the woman told KOAT.

A local media website posted an article about it last week, saying Rael had not called the police or followed city policy.

City policy requires employees in city vehicles to call the police if they have an accident, and Montoya acknowledges that this process was not followed, although she said he had reported the incident to risk management.

“Following the City’s procedures, Raël immediately moved towards risk management. He was asked to fill out a form, which he did, ”Montoya said. “Risk management then resolves these situations by following normal protocols. She said there was no alcohol.

Montoya said the crash caused minor damage to both vehicles and no injuries. She said the driver of the truck was compensated $ 1,116 for damage to his vehicle.

“Rael and the other driver both agreed to exchange information and due to the minor nature of the accident, neither driver felt it necessary to block law enforcement.” , said Montoya.

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