Lawyer's DWI arrest caught on dash cam

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Whatever you say can and will be used against you in court; it's something every cop knows and every attorney should know.

Apparently one local lawyer forgot the axiom, when Albuquerque Police arrested him for drunk driving this week.

Albuquerque attorney John Wayne Higgins usually defends drunk drivers.

On Wednesday night he had the right to remain silent; instead he acted as his own attorney and tried to defend himself.

Police said that Higgins struck a curb near 12th and Mountain, and witnesses watched him walk across the street where police found him.

Higgins' entire arrest was caught by a police officer's dash camera. He claimed that he wasn't driving the car.

"This is what you're driving me in on. I'm going to sue your (expletive) off," he said.

The alleged drunk driver didn’t seem too happy cuffed and perhaps stuffed with something that didn’t agree with him

"This will be the last best day of the rest of your life," Higgins said in the back of a police cruiser. "And if you think I'm kidding you're (expletive) crazy."

During his entire ride in the police car, Higgins lobbed insults at his arresting officers.

"The only safe thing for you to do is kill me because I know, and I know people that know," he said. "You little slime bag, crick, criminal, killer."

Higgins had a hard time sitting up on the 20 minute car trip to lock up, which may have given him a wake up.

"I want you guys to know, I don't believe I can beat up these guys in jail," he said. "Any possibility that you can stay with me for a while?"

Higgins has been charged with aggravated DWI and is currently out on bond. He said that he wasn't driving the wrecked car.