Former co-op manager charged with DWI during traffic stop
A former manager at Socorro Electric Cooperative is facing a DWI charge following a traffic stop last week.
Richard Lopez, 53, who was fired from his job as engineering and operations manager in July, was charged with aggravated DWI (.16 or higher) after being pulled over by a Socorro Police officer the morning of Friday, Sept. 2.
According to the criminal complaint, Officer J.P. Gallegos pulled over Lopez’s southbound Toyota pickup truck near the intersection of California Street and Manzañares Avenue at about 9:43 a.m. after the officer observed the driver was not wearing a seat belt. The officer detected a strong odor of alcohol permeating from the vehicle, the complaint states, and Lopez had blood shot and watery eyes and slurred speech.
The complaint states that Lopez admitted he had been drinking the night before. He was placed under arrest after the officer had Lopez perform a series of field sobriety tests.
Lopez was then transported to the Socorro Police Department where after a 20-minute deprivation period two breath alcohol tests were administered. The tests registered at .20 and .19, more than twice the legal limit.
Lopez was then taken to the Socorro County Detention Center. He was released after posting $1,600 cash bond that same morning.
In addition to DWI, Lopez was charged with failure to wear a seat belt. A date for his preliminary hearing in Magistrate Court has not been set.
Lopez had been an employee of Socorro Electric Cooperative for 28 years before being fired for allegedly breaking co-op policy. He then filed age discrimination and retaliation complaints against the co-op with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Those complaints are still pending.
Lopez served a five-month stint as the co-op’s interim general manager, beginning in August 2010. He received a commendation for volunteer service from the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association earlier that year after spending two weeks in Haiti helping to restore power after an earthquake ravaged the country.
Lopez is a former Socorro city councilor, serving two terms from 1986-90 and 1994-98.
Contact T.S. Last