Tinted windows lead to Grants man's arrest on DWI charge

By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — When Grants Police Sgt. John Castenada stopped a vehicle because it had dark, tinted windows, the result was an arrest for DWI, driving on a revoked or suspended license, resisting or evading a police officer.

Cody R. Estevan, 23, of Anderman St., faces up to nearly four years in state prison and up to a $4,000 fine if prosecuted and convicted of all the charges, a Cibola County Magistrate Court clerk said.

Estevan was stopped at the intersection of High Street and Anderman and Castenada noticed Estevan had slurred speech and could smell liquor on him, according to Magistrate Court records.

When asked for a license, Estevan said he did not have one, which was confirmed when the officer checked his information through the National Crime Information Center and had an order for his arrest, court records state.

When Estevan was asked to do field sobriety tests, he initially refused, but then agreed and failed. When Castenada tried to handcuff Estevan, he ran north on Anderman Street to a bridge and entered the tunnel beneath the bridge, said Grants Police Lt. Maxine Spidle.

He was found by officers and arrested, court records state.

Spidle said having windows too darkly tinted is against the law in New Mexico.

A handheld machine used by police tests the level of darkness of window tinting and in this instance it was 16.8 percent.

Spidle said 20 percent is the state's maximum.

Estevan has a pretrial hearing on April 24 in Magistrate Court.

Presiding Judge Jackie Fisher said a pretrial hearing is different than a preliminary hearing in that it is used for all misdemeanors and petty misdemeanors.

The defendant is allowed to plead guilty or not guilty at the pretrial hearing and it is determined at that point whether the case will go to a jury trial or if a plea agreement has been made, he said.

Preliminary hearings are used for felonies only and often the case is bound over to the 13th Judicial District Court or the grand jury, he said.

Estevan was placed in custody at the Cibola County Detention Center on a $1,500 secured bond on Feb. 15. He posted bond and was released the same day.

To contact reporter Jim Tiffin, call (505) 287-2197 or e-mail: jtiffin.independent@yahoo.com.