Trucker terrorizes I-40
Driver forces motorists off highway

By Tom Purdom
Staff Writer

ACOMA — A Kentucky truck driver allegedly ran cars off Interstate 40 Sunday and reportedly vowed to "take out" any cop who tried to stop him, but then he did not figure on Sgt. Rick Doty and Officer Tony Nunez.

The trucker, 32-year-old Christopher E. Caudill, is alive today; so are the motorists he reportedly ran off the road and so are Doty and Nunez. Caudill is facing multiple complaints and could be facing more in Cibola County Detention Center.

It was just after 5 p.m. Sunday when the police dispatcher got an 911 call from a frantic motorist who said a truck was blocking the 102 Mile Marker exit ramp on Interstate 40. Later, Martha Diaz, 51, of Phoenix, Ariz., who said she had just been run off Interstate 40 by a Freightliner truck, called in the trucker. State police also found out Sandra Lampeley, 36, of New York state, had been run off the road.

"Just about the same time we started getting several other calls from people on cell phones," said Doty. "He was going east on the interstate, but then he'd drive down into the center median and up on the other side and drive east in the west-bound lanes, then he'd go back into the median to the east side of the interstate, then do it all over again."

Investigations showed that Caudill was arguing with another truck driver.

The police dispatcher was trying to contact Caudill and when the police did Caudill had some chilling words. "He said, 'I will take out any trooper who tries to stop me,'" Doty said. The conversation is on tape.

Doty said he and Nunez caught up to Caudill, who put up a brief struggle. "We also had help from the Acoma Police Department and Johnny Valdez from the Cibola County Sheriff's Department," Doty said.

Later, Caudill's activities were traced back to Kingman, Ariz., where he had stopped until 4 a.m. Sunday. At that time he got back on the road and drove east toward New Mexico. "He is supposed to stop every once-in-a-while, but his log book shows no stops," Doty said.

When the fracas began, frightened motorists came to almost a standstill and commercial trucks simply pulled off the interstate to wait out the mess on the road up ahead. "Traffic was backed up quite a way because of what was going on," Doty said.

Inside the truck's cab state police found alcohol, Doty said. "We're running tests to see if he has any methamphetamine in him too," Doty said.

As of Monday morning Caudill faced citations of driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, reckless driving and commercial motor vehicle code violations. "There may be other charges later," Doty said.