Española Police executive secretary Melissa Griego allegedly left the scene of an accident in Pojoaque and caused a second accident at the southernmost boundary of Española Feb. 14 while driving under the influence of alcohol, according to Española Police and the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department.
Griego, 33, of Peñasco, first struck a car that was waiting to turn left at the intersection of State Road 503 and Highway 84/285, and then left before the Sheriff’s deputy arrived at the scene, according to a Santa Fe County deputy’s report. The driver of the other car, Patricia Herrera, who is director of operations at the office of the Secretary of State, told the deputy that the driver of the car that struck her appeared extremely intoxicated and ignored Herrera’s direction to wait while she called police, according to the report.
Although Herrera complained of neck and left shoulder pain, she refused to be transported by an ambulance to the hospital. Her car suffered moderate damage.
Meanwhile, Santa Fe dispatch put a notice out to surrounding law enforcement agencies to be on the lookout for Griego’s maroon Honda Accord. The deputy was still at the scene of the Pojoaque accident when she was advised by dispatch that Española Police had the vehicle at the scene of a second accident at the intersection of Highway 84/285 and State Road 399 near the Dream Catcher Theater.
Before Griego got in the second accident, a tipster called Drunkbusters after seeing her swerve near the intersection of Highway 84/285 and Santa Fe County Road 88.
“When she took off from the first stoplight she was swerving completely off the side of the road, and then she would get on again and swerve off — she did it twice,” Traci McAdams said Monday. “While I was giving (the Drunkbusters dispatcher) the license plate number the girl ran into the car in front of her.”
After Griego struck the other car, McAdams’ husband had to put their car in reverse to avoid getting struck by Griego, who did not apply the brakes at first, but rolled backwards, McAdams said.
Geraldine Thielen said she and her husband and her parents were driving home that afternoon and didn’t even notice Griego was approaching behind them when she struck the back of their car. Thielen, her husband and her mother were attending to her father when Española Police rolled up on the scene, but no injuries were reported among the four. The rear bumper, rear trunk area and rear tail lights of Thielen’s car was damaged and the front bumper, hood and grill area of Griego’s were also damaged.
Thielen was stunned by the fact that Griego not only did not get out of her car to assist or offer her insurance information, but in fact, didn’t even roll down her window.
Griego produced her driver’s license, proof of insurance and (expired) proof of registration, but officers noticed she smelled of alcohol, had slurred speech and had blood-shot watery eyes. She was arrested and transported to the Española Police station and her car was towed.
Deputy Julie York interviewed Griego at the Española Police station.
“She advised me that she did not know what I was talking about and that she was not in a crash,” York’s report states. “She then advised me that she did not see the vehicle and had no idea what road she was on or what direction she was going.”
York cited Griego for careless driving, leaving the scene of a crash and failure to give information and render aid.
When Española DWI officer Robert Vigil asked Griego to get out of her car to attempt field sobriety tests, she refused, saying she didn’t want to take the tests, a report states. She was arrested on charges of aggravated DUI and reckless driving.
Griego’s blood alcohol concentration was tested at .31 and .29, the report states. A score over .08 is legally drunk and over .12 constitutes aggravated DUI for someone operating a vehicle in that condition.
Griego was booked and transported to Los Alamos County Jail, where she remained until Tuesday at 11:18 a.m., Los Alamos Jail staff said. At that point Española Jail officers transported her to Santa Fe County Magistrate Court, where she was scheduled to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m., but the arraignment did not occur, Ham said. Court clerk Vicki Garcia said that the court never received necessary paperwork from Española Police.
Griego was then booked into Santa Fe County Jail at 12 p.m. and bonded out at 4:54 p.m. after posting $5,500 bail, according to the jail’s website. She has yet to be arraigned, Ham said.
Griego has been employed by the city since September 2000, originally as chief court clerk. She was transferred in 2003 to the position of executive secretary with the police. Her current salary is $38,376. Ham said he did not know whether she was on administrative leave, saying she would not return until at least after the arraignment. Griego did not return a call for comment.
“(Driving under the influence) is not acceptable for any citizen of the state of New Mexico no matter what your job description is,” Ham said.