APD officer arrested after allegedly driving drunk with child in vehicle
May 4—An Albuquerque police officer was arrested at a DWI checkpoint stop on Saturday night in Northwest Albuquerque.
Jonathan Franco, 38, of Albuquerque, is charged with driving while intoxicated with a minor in the vehicle and DWI. He was released on personal recognizance, according to court records. A bond arraignment is scheduled for June 5.
It is unclear if he has an attorney.
The Albuquerque police chief said he was "disappointed" with the officer.
"We are disappointed that this officer made a bad choice," Albuquerque Police Department Chief Harold Medina said in a news release Sunday. "There are many rideshare options for people to avoid drinking and driving."
At 11:30 p.m., the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office was conducting a DWI checkpoint at Unser and Rainbow NW when deputies saw a truck approach orange cones, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. While talking to Franco, deputies said they smelled a "strong odor" of alcohol on his breath and saw his eyes were bloodshot and watery, deputies said.
Franco told deputies he had "one or two beers" about an hour earlier, the complaint states. When Franco got out of the truck, deputies saw a six-year-old girl in the backseat, deputies said.
Franco performed "poorly" on the standardized field sobriety tests then told deputies he had three or four Modelos, according to the complaint.
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