State police: Santa Fe man faces 11th charge of DWI

April 25--New Mexico State Police arrested a Santa Fe man on his 11th DWI charge Sunday night after he nearly crashed into an officer's vehicle while driving the wrong way on Cerrillos Road, the agency said.

Santiago Garcia had his first appearance Tuesday in the Santa Fe County Magistrate Court but entered no plea. The court set a bond of $1,000.

According to a criminal complaint, Garcia, 53, was driving south on Cerrillos "in the median against northbound traffic" near Herrera Drive, on the city's south side, around 10:30 p.m. Sunday. He nearly hit a state police cruiser head-on, the complaint says, before the officer did a U-turn and tried to pull him over. He kept driving slowly, 10 to 20 mph, the complaint says, circling side streets and at one point driving north in the southbound lanes of Cerrillos.

"The vehicle continued to evade me and paid no regard to my emergency equipment," state police Officer David Allan wrote in the complaint.

The officer finally performed a PIT maneuver, or pursuit intervention technique, which causes a car to turn sideways abruptly, he said, and Garcia's car crashed into a curb near the intersection of Jaguar Drive and Cerrillos Road.

When officers approached the car, the complaint says, Garcia's breath smelled of alcohol, and they could see an open container of alcohol in the car. Garcia refused to take a breath-alcohol test, the complaint says, and the officers determined that his driver's license had been revoked and that he had 10 prior DWI arrests.

Garcia has pleaded guilty or no contest to driving under the influence in at least six cases, court records show. He was acquitted in one case, and prosecutors dismissed charges in at least two.

According to the complaint, Garcia was charged with aggravated DWI, having an open container, resisting or evading an officer, driving while his license was revoked, having no proof of insurance and careless driving in the most recent case.

As of Wednesday morning, inmate logs showed Garcia was still being held in the Santa Fe County jail.

Contact Sami Edge at [email protected] or 505-986-3055.

___

(c)2018 The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, N.M.)

Visit The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, N.M.) at www.santafenewmexican.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.