(Deming) – An off-duty Luna County Sheriff’s investigator has been charged with drunken driving.
A criminal summons was filed Friday on 32-year-old Israel Saenz for DUI following a nearly month-long investigation into an April 19th incident.
Deming Police Chief Brandon Gigante said that at about 2 a.m. on April 19th his officers responded to a call of a vehicle blocking the McDonald’s drive-through in Deming.
By the time his officers arrived, the vehicle had been moved and Saenz was found passed out in the back seat of his 2013 Dodge Ram crew-cab pickup. Saenz told officers he had no idea how he got there.
Gigante said surveillance video obtained from McDonald’s showed Saenz driving into the drive-through lane, but then apparently passing out behind the wheel.
An off-duty Border Patrol agent then approached the vehicle, put it in park, opened the doors and moved Saenz from the driver’s seat to the back seat, and then drove the vehicle out of the drive-through lane.
The agent initially told officers Saenz was in the back seat when he approached, but later recanted and admitted to moving Saenz.
Gigante said it took nearly a month to file charges because of the follow-up investigation, the delayed arrival of the surveillance video from McDonald’s corporate offices and a review by the District Attorney’s office.
A criminal summons was filed Friday on 32-year-old Israel Saenz for DUI following a nearly month-long investigation into an April 19th incident.
Deming Police Chief Brandon Gigante said that at about 2 a.m. on April 19th his officers responded to a call of a vehicle blocking the McDonald’s drive-through in Deming.
By the time his officers arrived, the vehicle had been moved and Saenz was found passed out in the back seat of his 2013 Dodge Ram crew-cab pickup. Saenz told officers he had no idea how he got there.
Gigante said surveillance video obtained from McDonald’s showed Saenz driving into the drive-through lane, but then apparently passing out behind the wheel.
An off-duty Border Patrol agent then approached the vehicle, put it in park, opened the doors and moved Saenz from the driver’s seat to the back seat, and then drove the vehicle out of the drive-through lane.
The agent initially told officers Saenz was in the back seat when he approached, but later recanted and admitted to moving Saenz.
Gigante said it took nearly a month to file charges because of the follow-up investigation, the delayed arrival of the surveillance video from McDonald’s corporate offices and a review by the District Attorney’s office.
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