3 Prior Offenders Arrested on DWI
By T.J. Wilham
Journal Staff Writer
Within 12 hours, police in Bernalillo County arrested three people on drunken driving charges who had three or more prior DWI convictions.
Robert Danielson, Valente Gonzales and Eric Lucrecio already had a total of 13 DWI convictions when Albuquerque police and Bernalillo County Sheriff's deputies arrested them Tuesday and Wednesday.
All three now face felony charges.
"It's pretty unusual to have that many in that short (period) of time with so many priors," said sheriff's Sgt. Angel Torres, who commands the county's DWI unit.
According to Metropolitan Court criminal complaints:
Lucrecio, 31, was arrested about 12:15 a.m. Wednesday at a station in the 200 block of Rio Bravo SW, where he didn't notice there was a sheriff's deputy at the station who saw him stumble as he tried to get gasoline.
He told deputies he'd had five or six beers. An open bottle of vodka was found in the center console.
According to the DWI Resource Center, Lucrecio had been arrested seven times for DWI before Wednesday. He was convicted on six of the charges.
Danielson, 54, was arrested about noon on Tuesday when sheriff's deputies pulled him over in the 5300 block of San Mateo NE. He told police he was on methadone and anxiety medication. While taking a field sobriety test, which he failed, a bag filled with Xanax, cocaine, codeine and ibuprofen fell out of his pants.
Danielson had been convicted three times on DWI charges, according to court records.
Gonzales, 36, was driving his girlfriend's car about 11:15 p.m. Tuesday when Albuquerque police stopped him for running a red light in the 2500 block of Sixth NW. Because he had four prior DWI convictions, Gonzales is only allowed to drive a car with an ignition interlock. The car didn't have one.
He was arrested after refusing to take a breath test.
According to the DWI Resource Center, Gonzales has been arrested six times.
