BY MAIRE O’NEILL
maire@losalamosreporter.com

Trenton Edwin Pena, 18, with a Santa Fe County address. was arrested Saturday, Jan. 31 and charged with aggravated driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor, negligent use of a deadly weapon – intoxication, negligent use of a deadly weapon near a dwelling or building, no proof of insurance, no proof of registration, and unlawful carrying of a handgun by a person under 19.

Documents filed in Los Alamos Magistrate Court Feb. 2 by Los Alamos Police Ofc. Dominic Lopez indicate that Pena reported intoxicated to work at Smith’s Marketplace late in the evening of Jan. 31 and was allegedly told by his supervisor to “sleep it off” in his car. The statement of probable cause indicates that Pena first drove to the Auto Zone parking lot on Trinity Drive where his vehicle was spotted by Ofc. Lopez who had been dispatched to Smith’s Marketplace in response to a report of a male was who left the store intoxicated. Ofc. Lopez continued to follow Pena who headed west on Trinity at a high rate of speed.

At 2:20 a.m. Feb. 1, Cpl. Lorenso Jaramillo was notified by dispatch that shots had been fired in the area of the Dinosaur Park at the junction of Barranca Road and San Ildefonso Road. Cpl. Robert Stephens also responded as well as Sgt. Joseph Dezendorf. On arrival, officers were unable to see anyone in the vehicle driven by Pena and received no response when they began call-outs. Ofc. Lopez drew his Department-issued rifle and pointed it at the vehicle.

As officers approached the vehicle, they observed a male slumped over in the driver’s seat and a firearm on the front passenger’s seat. The engine was running and the vehicle was in drive. Sgt. Dezendorf walked to the driver’s side and removed Pena from the vehicle with the help of other officers. Pena was placed in the back of a patrol unit.

Pena allegedly told officers a coworker had been “pissing him off” and “scaring him” so he had been carrying a gun because he was scared for his life. Ofc. Lopez wrote that while Pena was talking to him, he was slurring his speech and that he, Lopez, could smell a very strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from Pena’s person. Pena allegedly told Lopez he had consumed three or four beers.

At one point, Pena claimed he had not discharged the firearm and that the person who did, had run down the road. Pena agreed to take field sobriety tests. When he exited the patrol unit, the report states that he had trouble maintaining his balance and then refused to take the sobriety tests. Ofc. Lopez read Pena the implied consent advisory twice and after the second time, Pena agreed to take the chemical breath test and requested to be taken to the hospital.

Pena was eventually transported to the Detention Center where he was allegedly belligerent and ended up being taken to Los Alamos Medical Center for medical clearance before being booked into the Detention Center.