{"id":91912,"date":"2019-10-31T02:19:13","date_gmt":"2019-10-31T02:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/multiple-charges-filed-against-crash-suspect\/"},"modified":"2019-10-31T02:19:13","modified_gmt":"2019-10-31T02:19:13","slug":"multiple-charges-filed-against-crash-suspect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/multiple-charges-filed-against-crash-suspect\/","title":{"rendered":"Multiple charges filed against crash suspect"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Kenneth
Kenneth R. Todd, 71, of Cortez, the driver of this Chevrolet Impala, was flown by helicopter to San Juan Regional Medical Center after a head-on crash Oct. 22 south of Cortez.<\/span>Patrick Armijo\/The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A Farmington, New Mexico, man who was arrested for involvement in a head-on crash that seriously injured a Cortez man last week has been charged with multiple offenses by the 22nd Judicial District Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

Thaddeus M. Ponder was charged with felony vehicular assault and reckless vehicular assault, both felonies. He also was charged with driving under the influence, reckless driving, failing to stop at a red light, leaving the scene of an accident, failing to report an accident and habitual criminal.<\/p>\n

District Attorney Will Furse said the investigation is ongoing, and there may be additional charges. Ponder is being held in the Montezuma County Detention Center on a $75,000 cash surety bond.<\/p>\n

On Oct. 22, Ponder is suspected of causing a head-on crash on U.S. Highway 160\/491 in a construction zone south of Cortez that severely injured Kenneth R. Todd, 71, of Cortez. Todd suffered a fractured rib, a pelvis injury, a spleen injury, a broken femur and a punctured lung. He was taken by helicopter to San Juan Regional Medical Center in Farmington. According to a hospital spokesman, Todd has been transferred out of intensive care and into San Juan Regional Rehabilitation Hospital where he is recovering and is listed in good condition.<\/p>\n

\"Ponder\"
Ponder<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

According to the Colorado State Patrol, Ponder was speeding southbound in a red Ford F-250 pickup, crossed the centerline of traffic in a work zone and hit a silver Impala driven by Todd head-on. Ponder reportedly hit another vehicle in Cortez before the head-on crash, and also clipped a guardrail. Ponder was also injured. He was transported to Southwest Memorial Hospital.<\/p>\n

Officials are investigating whether the F-250 driven by Ponder was possibly stolen, Furse said during a court hearing.<\/p>\n

According to a case affidavit, several people reported a drunken driver in a red pickup traveling in the same area. The CSP said witnesses saw the truck passing on the shoulder and weaving recklessly. One witness estimated it was traveling 80 mph in a 40 mph construction zone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe construction zone was active at the time of the crash and there were numerous workers in the immediate area of the crash,\u201d according to the State Patrol affidavit.<\/p>\n

Drug use is also a suspected cause, based on statements and actions made by Ponder, police said. At the hospital, he was incoherent and uncooperative, the affidavit states.<\/p>\n

During the court bond hearing Oct. 23, Furse said Ponder has a criminal record in New Mexico and Colorado, including robbery, assault, parole violations and sexual assault. Ponder is also facing a DUI trial in San Juan County, New Mexico, Furse said, and was driving without a license.<\/p>\n

jmimiaga@ the-journal.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

accused of reckless driving, DUI, vehicular assault<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":91913,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5738,5796,5740,5737,5736,5735,5741,5858,5859],"tags":[21,168,13,28,29,254,76],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-91912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cortez","category-crime","category-frontpage-lead","category-headlines","category-local-news","category-news","category-newsletter","category-road-crash","category-u-s-22nd-judicial-district","tag-cortez","tag-crime","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter","tag-road-crash","tag-u-s-22nd-judicial-district"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91912\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91912"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=91912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}