McKinley County Sheriff Deputy Paul Davis Jr. was dispatched about 8 pm, Jan. 4 to the rock climbing area on Mentmore Road in connection with an automobile accident.

When he arrived, he found a man taking care of a woman who was lying in the rear seat of a vehicle. The man, Elijah Begay, said he had come upon the scene after the crash and saw two men walk away from the vehicle.

The woman, Charlene Cleveland, was transported to a nearby hospital while deputies began a search for the two men.

It didn’t take deputies very long before the two men were located. One of the men - Kendric Slim Jim, 19, of Mentmore – admitted he was the driver. Davis said he could smell alcohol coming from Jim as he approached him.

As he was being escorted to the police unit, Jim appeared to be having problems with his balance, so one of the deputies held on to him to keep him from falling. He was taken to the training room at the sheriff’s headquarters, where he was asked to take the standard field sobriety tests.

At first Jim appeared hesitant, but he finally agreed. During the test, Jim had problems and finally called it quits and admitted he had been drinking and needed to accept responsibility.

He then agreed to take a breath alcohol test and posted samples of .14 and .14. He was charged with DWI, causing great bodily harm by a vehicle and leaving the scene of an accident and having no insurance.