Family of APD officer killed in hit-and-run grieve, urge driver to come forward

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – It was a hit and run crash that ended the life of an Albuquerque Police Officer. Friends, family, and teammates used the word ‘devastating’ to describe their loss, urging the driver responsible to come forward.

“And she will truly be missed, very missed by everybody, it’s a loss for everybody,” said Savannah Costales, a close friend of the victim.

Family, friends, and teammates spoke to the character of APD Officer Bianca Quintana at the field where she once played the game she loved. “Whoever knows her knows that she was a kind woman a good daughter, a good wife, and her kids are always going to miss her like everybody else,” said Armando Valdez Borja, Uncle of the victim.

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Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office said that on Wednesday, just before 1 a.m., Quintana was off-duty walking, when she was struck and killed by a vehicle that later fled the scene in the south valley near Coors Boulevard and Chapulin Road. When she wasn’t in uniform, she was on the softball field. She grew up playing the sport and continued to play as an adult.

“We’re going to miss her, and we are a softball family, you know we all have her back, her children’s back, her family’s back,” said Patricia Garcia, family friend of the victim.

She has been serving as an officer since she was first sworn into Los Lunas Police Department in 2020. Then later became an APD officer in 2022. “She’s a legend to me in my eyes, she left a legacy that’s going to go on forever,” said Maricruz Dominguez, sister of the victim.

Family members call for the driver from the crash to turn themselves in. BCSO is investigating the crash asking for any help from the public, encouraging witnesses to call crime stoppers.

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