FARMINGTON, N.M. (KRQE) Police say they nailed a driver with seventeen DWI convictions again. This time he made things easy for them after they found him parked in the middle of the street.
Shortly after midnight in late March, Farmington police pulled 49-year-old Orlando Cowboy Smith over to the curb after finding his car in the street. “The reason why I am stopping you, you can’t stop for a long time like that and you can’t get out of the car especially when you are not parking at a curb,” said one Farmington Police officer.
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Police said when they pulled up, Smith was outside his car searching for something in the rear seat. “As I turn southbound he jumps in his car and proceeds to turn eastbound on Cedar. He was stopped at the stop sign but the vehicle was further than 18 inches away from the curb and he exited the vehicle while the vehicle was running in the middle of the roadway,” added the Farmington Police officer.
According to court records, officers said they could smell the odor of alcohol coming from Smith’s car. “Hey, can you do me a favor and step out of the car for me please?” requested the Farmington Police officer. Then came a line of questioning Smith had heard many times before. “So, how much have you had to drink today sir? When was the last time you drank? Smith shook head telling officers he had not been drinking.
After failing his field sobriety test, officers placed Smith under arrest and his behavior quickly worsened and he lunged at officers. In the police report, officers note they ran his history and say they found 11 DWI convictions in New Mexico and three more in Colorado. In addition to those DWIs, in the paperwork that convinced a judge to keep Smith behind bars until trial, prosecutors pointed to Smith’s three DWI convictions in Arizona and Utah.
According to the criminal complaint, Smith now lives in Durango. His last DWI in New Mexico was in 2015. That was a year before a state law was enacted that calls for a mandatory 10-12 years in prison for an eighth or higher DWI conviction.
