ALBUQUERQUE, NM - A jury returned its verdict last week in the case of a former Albuquerque tow truck driver charged in a fatal 2021 accident, the Albuquerque Journal reports.
27-year-old Stephen Bailey was found guilty of driving while intoxicated, but was acquitted on the more serious charges of vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident.
Bailey was driving a truck for A&M Towing at the time the incident took place on May 7, 2021 at a gas station on Isleta Boulevard near Interstate 25.
Authorities said Bailey had pulled into the station with a passenger, 26-year-old Jonathan Rosales. When he exited the station to turn onto Isleta Boulevard, the passenger door opened. Bailey's attorney said Rosales exited the truck as it was moving and was fatally struck.
Bailey, who was allegedly driving drunk at the time, was stopped by a Bernalillo County Sheriff's deputy a few miles away.
A sentencing hearing on the DWI conviction is scheduled for May 18.
