Grant County, NM – On May 19, 2021, at around 5:30 a.m. the New Mexico State Police were alerted to a crash involving four tractor-trailer trucks. The crash was reported to be at the rest stop on Interstate 10 near milepost 53 between Deming and Lordsburg, NM.
The initial investigation indicates that a 2018 International tractor-trailer truck, driven by Steven Carpenter, 33, of El Paso, TX was traveling east on Interstate 10. For unknown reasons, the International truck collided into the back of a 2021 Freightliner tractor-trailer truck that was traveling east on Interstate 10 and taking the exit for the rest stop. The 2018 International continued past the Freightliner and collided into the rear end of a second tractor-trailer truck that was parked along the entrance lane into the rest area, causing that parked truck to collide with a third tractor-trailer truck.
Mr. Carpenter suffered fatal injuries in the collision and was pronounced deceased on scene by the Office of the Medical Investigator. The drivers of the first and second trucks impacted suffered minor injuries, while the driver of the third truck was not injured. Alcohol is not believed to be a factor in the crash and seatbelts appear to have been properly worn at the time of the crash. This crash is being investigated by the New Mexico State Police.