By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
Victor Alan Duran, age 49 was charged with his third DWI while driving a tow truck owned by J&M Towing after arriving on the scene of a car versus deer accident on US Highway 64 in mid April.
The incident took place on US 64 near milepost 339 late on April 16, 2018 when the tow truck was dispatched to pickup a disabled vehicle that had hit a deer. Colfax County Sheriff Deputy Bill La Porte noted in his statement of probable cause that after arriving on the scene of the accident Duran did not seem like himself. La Porte had dealt with the individual several other times and his behavior was inconsistent with past experience.
Once the damaged vehicle was loaded, La Porte provided the necessary paperwork to Duran and noticed a smell of alcohol on his breath. La Porte asked Duran if he had been drinking and he told him he had, had a couple. Deputy La Porte had Duran perform a Standardized Field Sobriety Test which Duran failed. Duran was transported to VMDC where a breathalyzer test was performed on Duran which came back at .11 and .09. The legal limit for a CDL driver is .04.
La Porte also noted in his statement that Duran was a New Mexico Licensed CDL operator who was operating a commercial vehicle for the company he worked for. This charge is the third DWI in New Mexico and Duran confirmed that he had other convictions out of Colorado.
Duran was released on his own recognizance by Judge Warren Walton the following day. According to court records the case has been handed over to Judge Felix Pena in Springer at the request of Duran’s defense attorney Sarah Montoya where a preliminary court date has been set for June 18, 2018.
