One of two police officers involved in issuing a citation in May to a bar owned by Senate Majority Whip Mary Jane Garcia was arrested on Saturday for drunken driving – the second time he’s faced DWI charges.
Sgt. Conrad Chavira, a supervisor in the Special Investigations Division, has been placed on administrative duty after being arrested in Ruidoso on Saturday. He was not on duty when, according to police, he was on his motorcycle and tried to avoid a DWI checkpoint.
Chavira, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.13. The legal limit for driving is 0.08.
Chavira works in a unit that travels around the state and targets bars that might be serving minors or intoxicated people.
That’s what he was doing in
On Saturday, an officer reported smelling alcohol on Chavira’s breath from 10 feet away, according to the Albuquerque Tribune. He admitted to having two drinks and failed field sobriety tests. He was also charged with battery on a household member stemming from the fact that a female passenger was riding with him at the time.
It was Chavira’s second drunken driving arrest, the Tribune reported. The first was in 1991.
Here’s the kicker: When asked to perform field sobriety tests this weekend, according to the Tribune, Chavira responded by saying he was a police officer. Now, you might recall Garcia’s sister, when notified her bar was being cited, informing the officer who issued the citation that “her sister was a state senator,” according to the police report.
Elodia Garcia’s statement was an entirely inappropriate attempt to use her sister’s official position to avoid the citation. Chavira’s statement was equally inappropriate. Judges can be disciplined by the Supreme Court for using their law-enforcement position in such a manner. Perhaps Chavira should be similarly punished.