Demetrius Thomas is facing charges of DWI-related vehicular homicide and knowingly leaving the scene of a death after police say he struck and killed a pedestrian in Albuquerque and kept driving. According to a criminal complaint obtained by Law&Crime, his own father pointed officers toward him at the scene of the crash.

The crash happened around 1:30 p.m. last Friday near Central Avenue and Texas Street. The victim was a 61-year-old woman who appeared to be living on the streets. Bystanders performed CPR at the scene, but police say she died on impact. Her identity has not been released.

Police obtained surveillance footage from an Albuquerque Transit bus showing a gray Ford SUV straddling the left and center lanes of Central Avenue. The footage shows the woman crossing southbound, beginning to run, and being struck on the passenger side, according to the complaint. Demetrius Thomas allegedly kept driving about 0.6 miles to his apartment.

Demetrius Thomas allegedly called his father from his apartment after the crash and asked for a ride. The father told police he responded by saying his son had hit somebody, did not know whether that person was hurt, and needed to go back. According to the complaint, both of Thomas’ parents urged him to turn himself in.

When the father asked whether his son had been drinking, Demetrius Thomas reportedly answered yes. Back near the crash, the father flagged down officers and pointed toward the SUV, which had a caved-in windshield on the passenger side and damage to the hood. “Come over here because he’s the one who f—ing did it,” the father allegedly told officers.

Officers detained Demetrius Thomas at the scene. However, he initially told police he had not consumed anything that could impair his driving. While officers were placing him into a patrol vehicle, he allegedly said he had one shot of Admiral Nelson rum around 9 a.m. Police say he failed field sobriety tests and was impaired while driving.

Demetrius Thomas supposedly told investigators he went home after the collision as he was scared. He claimed the woman ran in front of him and that he “didn’t want to stop,” according to the complaint. He also said he braked and was traveling at the speed limit as there is a camera nearby.

Court records show the crash marks Demetrius Thomas’ third DWI-related arrest since 2019. In the earlier cases, he avoided jail and was placed on probation or ordered to complete DWI school and community service, along with having an ignition interlock device installed on his vehicle.

The crash happened along a three-mile stretch of Central Avenue between San Mateo and Eubank, which has the largest cluster of pedestrian deaths in both the city and the state. Since 2018, at least 43 pedestrians have died on that portion of roadway, and the woman became the 44th. A June 2026 report ranked Albuquerque as the second-deadliest metro area for pedestrians in the country.

Demetrius Thomas was booked into the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center on Friday night. However, it is not known whether he has retained an attorney or entered a plea, and the charges against him remain allegations at this stage.

A California drunk driving case involving two teenage cyclists also features a man accused of returning to the scene. The case against Thomas could advance through the court system as prosecutors move forward with the charges outlined in the criminal complaint.

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