Deputy Arrested For DWI

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• published: 29 Oct 2010
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SANTA FE � A Mora County sheriff's deputy was found drunk and passed out in his squad car along Interstate 25 on Monday after both he and the 14-year-old he was taking to court went missing earlier that day, according to New Mexico State Police. The deputy, Ramon Montoya, 28, was arrested and charged with aggravated DWI after he registered a blood-alcohol concentration up to 0.32, four times the state's presumed level of intoxication. This came several hours after the juvenile he was transporting ran away when Montoya opened the door for him to get out of the car in front of the state District Courthouse in Las Vegas, according to Las Vegas Police Deputy Chief Christian Monta�o. The juvenile was found at a home in Las Vegas later that evening and taken back into custody, according to Monta�o. The Mora County Sheriff's Office had no contact with Montoya from about the time the boy escaped Monday morning until they learned State Police had arrested him for DWI later that evening, according to State Police Lt. Eric Garcia. The deputy admitted he had been drinking heavily that evening, having consumed "numerous beers and Yukon Jack" whiskey, said Garcia, who did not know where Montoya had been boozing. An unopened bottle of vodka was found inside the vehicle. The reason Montoya pulled off the interstate in the first place was because he had run out of gas. When the arresting officer approached Montoya's squad car, the vehicle was still in drive mode and the keys were in the ignition as the deputy slept. "He was so drunk, he didn't realize he was about to run out of gas," Garcia said. State Police officers were looking for Montoya after the Mora County Sheriff's Office became concerned that he had not checked in with them for several hours. About 7 p.m. Monday, a State Police officer spotted Montoya's sheriff's unit parked along I-25's southbound shoulder near Mile Post 383 south of Wagon Mound. Montoya was found passed out, but he revived after the investigating officer knocked several times on the driver's side window, according to police. When Montoya opened his door, the state officer "was struck by a heavy (odor) of alcoholic beverage," according to Garcia. Montoya could not perform roadside sobriety tests and two separate Breathalyzer tests showed a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.29 and 0.32 percent. Montoya was supposed to be on duty at the time of his arrest. But he had not communicated with the Sheriff's Office since around 10:40 a.m., about the time 14-year-old Daniel Gallegos escaped. Gallegos was scheduled for a hearing after he had recently been arrested for violating the terms of probation he received on an assault case, according to Children, Youth and Families Department spokeswoman Romaine Serna. No one knows why Montoya stopped communicating with the Sheriff's Office after the escape. Calls to Mora County Sheriff Roy Cordova and Undersheriff Michael Benjamin were not returned Tuesday. After his arrest, Montoya was booked into the San Miguel County jail on a charge of aggravated DWI, his first such offense, Garcia said. Read more: ABQJOURNAL NEWS/STATE: Deputy Passed Out in Vehicle http://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/272332127496newsstate10-27-10.htm#ixzz13n1xSE3o Subscribe Now Albuquerque Journal