Shivering sheriff stalls sobriety test

SANTA ROSA, N. M. (KRQE) - One New Mexico Sheriff said that he was just too cold to perform field sobriety tests. 

Guadalupe County Sheriff Robert Chavez, seen in a police video dressed in shorts and T-shirt, initially resisted a 2:00 a.m. field sobriety test because of the chilly weather.

The dash cam video from a New Mexico State Police vehicle showed the events leading to the sheriff's early Saturday morning arrest.

The video was released Monday.

Officers were looking for Chavez after someone called local police to report that he'd just left the Pecos Bar and might be drunk.

A State Police officer caught up to Chavez, and the video shows the sheriff's pickup truck apparently blowing past a stop sign and speeding down a road.

Police followed Chavez to his home and pulled him over.
Chavez was in shorts and a t-shirt.

On the video, the shivering sheriff told officers that he was freezing, so he couldn't take field sobriety tests.

"This is your time in front of the camera to prove that you are not impaired. You are not doing this very well." The officer said. "Because of the totality of this circumstance and the call, am I going to be forced to go ahead and put you under arrest you for the DWI?"

The officer then offered Chavez his jacket and a chance to sit in the back of the cruiser to warm up.

Chavez took a few minutes to warm up in the car. When he climbed out of the police car and preformed the tests, Chavez appeared unstable and unfit to drive.

He then refused a Breathalyzer test and was arrested. Police alleged that the sheriff reeked of alcohol and found two open containers of alcohol in his truck.

Last week the county manager told KRQE News 13 that county officials had not decided if Chavez would be put on leave.

The county manager was not in Monday, and messages left for Chavez were not returned.