Report: Owens legally drunk after crash

SANTA FE (KRQE) - Scott Owens was very drunk at the time he is accused of causing a two-car collision that killed four teens and put a fifth in the hospital, according blood test results authorities released late Monday.

A similar test also showed that Avree Koffman, 16, the driver of the teens' car, had no alcohol in her system.

The District Attorney Angela "Spence" Pacheco initially refused to give out Owens blood alcohol test but changed her mind.

Witnesses at the crash scene on old Las Vegas Highway June 28 told investigators Owens, 28, smelled of alcohol and was glassy-eyed.

Owens has also admitted to buying a 12 pack of beer about five hours before the middle-of-the-night accident. He refused to take a Breathalyzer on the scene, so the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department woke up a judge to obtain a warrant for the blood draw.

The tests now show his blood-alcohol level at 0.16 two hours after the crash. Under state law anyone at or above a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 is presumed to be intoxicated.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano said he believes these test results will provide powerful evidence if the case goes to trial.

"It leaves little room for discussion," Solano told KRQE News 13. "A lot of times if their very close to the legal limit, then a defense attorney can argue that they were either higher or lower at the time of the accident.

"But when you're double the legal limit, it leaves very little room for that kind of argument."

Deputies also got a search warrant Monday to comb through the wreckage of Owens' Jeep Cherokee to see if there's any further evidence of drinking.

Solano said they are still waiting for test results to see if there were any drugs in Owens' system.

Koffman, the only survivor among five teens in the Subaru sedan, continues to improve in an Albuquerque hospital. Her father told News 13 she is now out of intensive care.

Rose Simmons, 15, and Julian Martinez, Alyssa Trouw and Kate Klein, all 16, died in the collision. Owens remains in jail under a $3 million cash-only bond charged with four counts of vehicular homicide and one count of great bodily injury by vehicle.

Investigators have said further charges would be filed depending on the results of the blood-alcohol test.