Farmington,NM : Two men charged in fatal vehicle crash on January, Friday 2nd 2018

Two men involved in Friday's fatal crash on U.S. Highway 550 south of Bloomfield have been charged with homicide by vehicle in the death of a Nageezi man.

Burgess Cayaditto, 32, and Myron Augustine, 30, are accused of a second-degree felony count of homicide by vehicle (DWI), along with three other charges each, according to court records.

Cayaditto told police Augustine grabbed the wheel of the pickup truck he was driving and "jerked it," which caused the vehicle to crash, according to the probable cause statement.

Cayaditto did not have legal representation this afternoon.

The crash occurred about 22 miles south of Bloomfield near mile marker 128 on U.S. Highway 550.

Charles Martinez, 44, of Nageezi, was pronounced dead at the scene around 7 p.m. Friday by an employee of the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator, according to court documents.

Cayaditto was booked into the San Juan County Adult Detention Center around 4 a.m. Saturday, where he is being held without bond.

He was one of three occupants of the vehicle transported from the scene to the San Juan Regional Medical Center, where he was treated and released, according to hospital spokeswoman Laura Werbner.

Burgess Cayaditto
Burgess Cayaditto (Photo: Courtesy of the San Juan County Adult Detention Center)

Cayaditto made his first appearance in Aztec Magistrate Court Monday morning.

Augustine's warrant is still active.

Court documents show New Mexico State Police officers were dispatched to the scene around 4:39 p.m. Friday on a report of a single-vehicle rollover.

At the scene, a State Police officer observed a small, black pickup truck resting on its passenger side. The truck had been traveling south on the highway when it crossed into the northbound lanes and overturned on the shoulder, according to a State Police press release.

Ricky Cayaditto, 54, was one of four occupants of the vehicle, along with Burgess Cayaditto, Augustine and Martinez.

Open and unopened cans of an alcoholic beverages were found in and outside the vehicle, along with a partially empty bottle of vodka that was found in the vehicle, according to court documents. The probable cause statement states an officer noticed a strong odor of alcohol from the vehicle and all four occupants.

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Two men charged in fatal vehicle crash