Last week, a Montezuma County Sheriff’s deputy overturned his vehicle while responding as backup to a suspected armed and intoxicated drunk driver.
According to a Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page on Wednesday, May 28, the unnamed deputy was traveling west on County Road CC, and he lost control of the vehicle after coming over a hill where the road is damaged. The social media post included a photo of the overturned vehicle.
“The deputy was able to crawl out of the passenger window of the vehicle,” the post stated. “911 was called and advised a deputy had been involved in an accident.”
The deputy was transported to the hospital, and later released with bumps and bruises.
In a separate Facebook post on the same day, a sergeant with the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to a reckless driver on Road 12. Based on an eyewitness account, the Colorado State Patrol and the sheriff’s sergeant both responded to the home of the driver, who reportedly had bloodshot eyes, smelled of alcohol and was unsteady on his feet.
“(The driver) told the officers he was out shooting prairie dogs, and became very agitated with them, cursing and threating them,” the Facebook post stated. “The trooper did not make an arrest, and the sergeant told him not to use a firearm while intoxicated. They cleared the scene.”
According to sheriff officials, the suspect later left his home driving, when another resident called to complain the same man wrecked on his property. The driver reportedly exited his vehicle, and then started threatening the resident.
While leaving the homeowner’s residence, the same sheriff sergeant saw the suspect driving traveling 62 m.p.h. in a 40 m.p.h. zone on County Road CC.
Following a pursuit, which at times slowed to 10 m.p.h., the suspect stopped and was placed into custody, at which time the sergeant called for backup.
The driver, Tyrone Peabody, was charged with DUI and speeding, according to the sheriff’s Facebook post.
Montezuma County Undersheriff Lynda Carter did not reply Monday when asked if the crashed vehicle was one of 18 new vehicles the department was approved to purchase earlier this year. She also declined to release the name of the deputy involved in the accident, adding an unnamed outside agency was investigating the crash.
Kinder Morgan officials have requested to renegotiate a $1.5 million Montezuma County road improvement agreement plan to maintain and improve approximately 4.5 miles of Road CC, a heavy truck route utilized by the company for its continued development of Cow Canyon.
tbaker@cortezjournal.com
