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Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Gesture Leads To 7th DWI Arrest
By T.J. Wilham
Journal Staff Writer
It's not a good idea to flip your finger at the guy with the badge.
That's how Ben Martinez picked up his seventh DWI arrest Monday.
Martinez, 45, was driving his Dodge Magnum by an Allsups store near Indian School and Menaul just west of 12th Street about 2:51 a.m. when his passenger "utilized his middle finger as an insult in the direction of myself and other officers," officer Matthew Trahan wrote in a Metropolitan Court criminal complaint.
"We call that a hint that something may be astray," Albuquerque police spokesman John Walsh said.
Using that reasoning, Trahan followed the Magnum and pulled it over when he saw it driving between two lanes of traffic on Indian School.
When Trahan talked to Martinez, who was driving, he smelled a "strong odor of alcohol" on his breath. Martinez told the officer he had hit his head in the past, according to the complaint.
Martinez failed a series of field sobriety tests and refused to give police a breath sample, the complaint states.
Police said they also found an open bottle of Jagermeister and Bud Light in the car. Also, Martinez's driver's license had been revoked, police said.
According to court records, Martinez has been arrested seven times on DWI charges since 1983. He has been convicted at least three times.
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