This series of caches is dedicated to those New Mexico State Police officers who gave thier final measure of devotion to the citizens of the state of New Mexico. Some lost their lives due to violence and others due to traffic and other accidents.
Officer Lloyd Aragon (age 37) was struck and killed by a suspect's vehicle while laying stop sticks on Interstate 40 near Grants, He and his partner were in plain clothes and en route to federal court to testify in a case when they heard radio traffic about a pursuit. They offered to assist and stopped on the Interstate to deploy a spike strip. As the suspect vehicle approached their location the driver swerved off the highway to avoid the strips and struck Officer Aragon. The suspect and an accomplice were apprehended at the scene. Officer Aragon had been employed with the State Police for eight years and had been in law enforcement five years prior to that.