Woman accused of DWI backs into PD cruiser

By Independent staff

GALLUP — A local woman was arrested on her third alleged drunken driving offense after she drove her vehicle into a Gallup police officers’ unit near the McKinley County Courthouse.

Baasha Mike was booked into the McKinley County Adult Detention Center on March 26 at about 6 p.m. When given a test to determine her alleged level of intoxication, her blood alcohol content registered .24 and .25 — three times the legal limit of .08.

Mike’s last name was also spelled Mark in a police report about the incident. Sgt. Erin Toadlena-Pablo, a spokeswoman for the Gallup Police Department, was not immediately available to clarify the inconsistency.

According to the police report, a city police officer noticed a possible drunken driver traveling in a yellow GMC pickup truck along Second Street near Trade Mart Plaza. Near the intersection of Green Avenue, the officer pulled behind the truck and noticed three passengers and a female driver inside.

“ ... the truck abruptly stopped just before the intersection of Second Street and Mesa. As I stepped out of my unit, I could see the woman driver was watching me in her left side rear view mirror. She accelerated through the red traffic light when then made a wide turn onto Aztec Avenue bumping the sidewalk curb with me following,” the officer wrote in the report.

The pursuit continued along Third Street near the courthouse and ended when the vehicle backed into the police officer’s unit.

“I saw the driver struggling to pull away from the truck as the other female passenger held onto her ... Because of the yelling among the occupants and not being able to see what they were doing, I unholstered my handgun and continued giving commands to them,” the report reads.

Three off-duty officers then arrived at the scene and helped subdue the driver who was later identified as Mike. The truck’s passengers were taken to NCI and no injuries were reported.