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Gallup Sun

Friday, Mar 29th

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WEEKLY DWI REPORT

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Shannon Smith

March 15, 6:30 pm

DWI, Aggravated

McKinley County Sheriff’s Dep. Lorenzo Guerrero was working on DWI enforcement on State Highway 118 when he saw a car going well under the posted speed limit. So he followed the car as it turned off onto County Road 1, still going 15 miles per hour in a 25 mph zone.

Guerrero stopped the vehicle and talked to the driver, Smith, 35, of Rehoboth, whom Guerrero said had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech. Smith then admitted that she had a few drinks earlier in the evening and agreed to take field sobriety tests.

She failed the first parts of the test and began crying, which Guerrero interpreted as a decision not to complete the rest of the tests, and she was arrested. She was taken to police headquarters but refused to take the breath tests. She was charged with aggravated DWI for refusal.

Brian Sam

March 11, 9:19 am

8th DWI, Aggravated

Gallup Police Department Officer Justin Foster was dispatched to the Denny’s Restaurant on the east side of Gallup over reports that an intoxicated driver was soliciting money from people going to the restaurant.

When Foster arrived at the restaurant, he saw a car matching the description given to him leaving the parking lot. He followed it and watched as the driver twice went over the centerline. He initiated a traffic stop.

When Foster approached Sam, 38, of Yah-Ta-Hay, he noticed immediately that the man had bloodshot eyes and showed other signs of being intoxicated. After Sam came out the vehicle, he immediately stumbled and said, “I am drunk.”

He refused to take field sobriety tests and was not given a breath alcohol test. When Foster finally got him to the police headquarters and looked at his record, he found Sam had seven previous DWI convictions on his record.

Foster also discovered that Sam had an outstanding bench warrant out for his arrest. He was charged with the warrant as well as aggravated DWI.

Jake Carlos

March 8, 11 pm

DWI, Aggravated

GPD Officer Terrance Peyketewa was traveling on East Highway 66 when he noticed a car getting onto the highway in such a way that he had to turn left to avoid a collision.

He turned around and out on his emergency lights and saw the vehicle jump backwards and stop. He went up to the driver – Carlos, 36, of Rehoboth – who had a confused look on his face. Peyketewa said he could also smell the odor of intoxicating liquor coming from inside the vehicle.

After Carlos admitted that he had a few drinks earlier in the day, he agreed to take field sobriety tests, which he failed. He was then placed under arrest. Carlos agreed to take a breath alcohol test, and posted two samples of .17 and .18.

Amanda Jim

March 8, 4:21 pm

DWI, Aggravated

GPD Officer Douglas Hoffman was driving east on Aztec Avenue when he saw a vehicle coming in the opposite direction traveling at a high rate of speed and then putting on the brakes sharply at the corner.

As he followed the vehicle, he noticed that it did not have any current tags, and when he checked the license plate, he discovered it came back as not from any car. When he finally stopped the vehicle and went up to talk to the driver, he said he could smell the odor of alcohol coming from inside the vehicle.

The driver gave her name as Lisa Benally, and said she had no driver’s license or identification. She said she also just purchased the car for $2,000 and had not had a chance to get the registration brought up to date.

Hoffman then asked the driver to get out of the vehicle and as she did, he said he noticed an open bottle of Importers Vodka near the feet of a male passenger in the front. After she admitted having three or four beers earlier in the evening, she agreed to take field sobriety tests, which she failed.

Hoffman then placed her under arrest and had the male passenger taken to NCI Detox Center. He then began checking on her background and discovered no records for a Lisa Benally with that birthdate.

She then broke down, said Hoffman, and told him she was Amanda Jim, 40, of Albuquerque. She agreed to take a breath alcohol test but once at police headquarters, she asked to use the restroom and then said she was diabetic and when she was given a direction to blow, she only did so for a second.

Hoffman said he felt she was only playing games with him so he marked her down as refusing the test. When he took her to the hospital for a medical clearance, medical personnel could find no record of her being diabetic.

Crash Report

A six-car accident occurred on March 18 on Interstate 40 about 11:30 am, which MCSO deputies are blaming on weather conditions and icy roads. No one was transported to the hospital and only one vehicle, a truck, had to be towed.

It started with two trucks colliding; two more vehicles then collided into them when they could not stop in time. The fifth and six cars managed to stop before hitting the other four but collided with each other.

One of the truck drivers, designated as driver number five, did go to the hospital for a urine test because it was company policy.

Sheriff officials said the westbound lane was held up for about an hour as deputies got all of the vehicles off the road.