A man accused in 2021 of fatally striking a pedestrian while on the job for an Albuquerque towing company was acquitted by a jury this week of the most serious crimes he faced.
Stephen Bailey, 27, was found not guilty Monday of vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident in the 2021 fatality, the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office said Tuesday.
However, jurors found Bailey guilty of driving while intoxicated, the DA’s office said. Bailey’s sentencing hearing is scheduled May 18 before 2nd Judicial District Judge Brett Loveless.
Jonathan Rosales, 26, was killed on May 7, 2021, when he was struck by a tow truck driven by Bailey, Bernalillo County Sheriff’s deputies said.
Prosecutors alleged that Bailey was driving drunk on the job for A&M Towing at the time he struck and killed Rosales, then fled the scene.
Bernalillo County deputies responded about 6:30 p.m. that evening to a gas station in the 7600 block of Isleta, near Interstate 25, following reports that someone had been run over by a tow truck. Rosales died at the scene.
Bailey’s attorney, William Cooley, said Rosales had been a passenger in Bailey’s truck when the pair pulled into the gas station shortly before Rosales was killed.
Jurors viewed security video from the Chevron gas station that captured the fatality as the tow truck was exiting the business, Cooley said.
As Bailey was making a right turn onto Isleta, “the passenger door opened and then Jonathan Rosales exited the vehicle while it was moving,” Cooley said.
“Once he’s out of the vehicle he is no longer a passenger — he’s a pedestrian,” Cooley said. “I argued to the jury this was pedestrian error.”
A deputy responding to the fatality observed a tow truck with “A and M” written on the side traveling north on Isleta SW and stopped the vehicle in the 5800 block of Isleta, according to a criminal complaint filed in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court.
Bailey, the driver, performed poorly on a field sobriety test and was arrested for DWI, the complaint said.
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