ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – An Albuquerque Police Department officer said a driver gave him a middle finger salute while speeding by him and blowing through red lights on Central in December of 2022.

Two blocks later, that driver, 32-year-old Justin Dominguez totaled his car in a roundabout and tried to slip off into the night. Moments before, Albuquerque police said Justin Dominguez crashed and abandoned his Infiniti near the roundabout at Eighth and Central back on that December night, officers saying they witnessed him speeding through red lights at Fifth and Sixth streets. “He just guns it and drives right past me and as he drives past me he slows down, flips me off and he guns it again,” said one Albuquerque Police officer.

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Once officers came upon the crashed car, Dominguez was nowhere to be found. “He came over this curb right here and he was, like, freaking out and I came over here to talk to him and it seemed like he was slurring his words a lot,” one witness told officers. Witnesses told officers Dominguez took off on foot down Central. Officers found him just a couple blocks away at Tenth street. Once officers spotted Dominguez, he acted confused and repeatedly told officers he was just out for a walk.

Court documents showed the wrecked car was registered to Dominguez. Officers then found the keys to the car in Dominguez’s pocket along with an open bottle of liquor. “We detained him, he had a backpack on him. In his pocket I found a large object, I wasn’t sure what it was. I pulled it out, it was a bottle of vodka,” said one APD officer. Moments later, Dominguez admitted the car was his, but continued his story, telling officers he was walking, but admitted the car is his. “Somebody stole my car, bro. Dude, I was walking,” Dominguez told police officers.

Dominguez has two previous DWI convictions and a long history of speeding and traffic tickets. The 32-year-old does not have a trial date yet.