NMSP: Woman who crashed with kids in SUV was high
A Las Vegas woman has been charged with child abuse and DWI after police say she was high on marijuana when she was involved in a multi-vehicle crash with two children in the vehicle.
Linda Maldonado, 34, was booked into the San Miguel County Detention Center following the incident that took place around noon on Jan. 11. Initially, Maldonado was charged with DWI and several traffic violations; however, an amended criminal complaint was filed in San Miguel Magistrate Court two days later, adding a third-degree felony charge of abuse of a child.
According to the criminal complaint, NMSP says one of the children in Maldonado’s SUV was secured in car seat, but a 3-year-old boy was “found laying (sic) down in the rear luggage area with no car seat for the child found in the vehicle.”
The crash happened on an I-25 off ramp in Las Vegas. When NMSP arrived, an officer found Maldonado standing in the middle of the road. Maldonado told police she didn’t know she’d hit another vehicle, and according to court records, the officer smelled a “strong odor of marijuana” on Maldonado. During a search of her vehicle, police located a “partially consumed marijuana joint.”
Maldonado was given a series of road-side sobriety tests, and according to police, she had difficulty following directions, restarted the tests several times and ultimately failed each test.
Following her arrest, Maldonado was transported to Alta Vista Regional Hospital to have a blood sample taken, and to be medically cleared before being booked into the SMCDC.
Maldonado was released from SMCDC on Jan. 15 after posting a $1,000 bond, but she was ordered to wear an ankle monitor. Along with misdemeanor DWI and felony child abuse charges, Maldonado was cited for careless driving and for not having a child properly restrained in a vehicle, both misdemeanors. This is Maldonado’s first DWI.
Maldonado is due to be arraigned in San Miguel Magistrate Court 9 a.m. Feb. 19.
