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LAS CRUCES - A 49-year-old man has been indicted on his 11th drunken driving charge.
Arthur Joseph Montano has been convicted eight times for drunken driving in Las Cruces, according to court records.
A Do a Ana County grand jury formally charged him Thursday for the most recent alleged incident, in which he allegedly had an open bottle of whiskey in the car and a breath-alcohol content of .21, more than two and a half times the legal limit of .08.
Diego Herrera , a senior patrolman with the New Mexico State Police's anti-DWI unit, pulled Montano over at 11:20 p.m. Jan. 12 after he saw the man's Chevrolet sedan smack a curb as he came out of a parking lot and then run a red light, according to the criminal complaint.
Despite the emergency lights and siren, Montano allegedly didn't pull over for four full blocks, according to Herrera.
Montano was described as having "very heavy slurred speech ... a very hard time trying to find his driver's license" and when he stepped out of the vehicle, he lost his balance, according to Herrera.
He was released the following day on a $4,000 secured bond approved by Las Cruces Magistrate Court Judge Oscar Frietze.
Montano, of the 1200 block of South Espina, is charged with aggravated drunken driving, reckless driving, driving with a suspended license and driving with an open container of alcohol in the vehicle.
If convicted, Montano faces a mandatory two-year prison sentence and a possible three-year sentence.
Ashley Meeks
