{"id":25684,"date":"2024-09-14T16:42:12","date_gmt":"2024-09-14T22:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/n-m-state-police-reveal-beer-drug-found-in-da-hatfields-crashed-suv\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T05:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T05:24:09","slug":"n-m-state-police-reveal-beer-drug-found-in-da-hatfields-crashed-suv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/n-m-state-police-reveal-beer-drug-found-in-da-hatfields-crashed-suv\/","title":{"rendered":"N.M. State Police reveal beer, drug found in DA Hatfield\u2019s crashed SUV"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image naviga-align-left alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=5145d385-a800-5007-afc7-38ed0fed794e&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"1059\" height=\"1600\" alt=\"Christian Hatfield, 22nd Judicial District Attorney, was involved in a car crash on Friday in New Mexico.\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">Christian Hatfield, 22nd Judicial District Attorney, was involved in a car crash on Friday in New Mexico.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p>District Attorney Christian Hatfield of the 22nd Judicial District appeared to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs or both when he crashed his SUV on U.S. Highway 64 east of Farmington on Aug. 30, according to reports obtained by <em id=\"emphasis-87da75606d1ae469291b59ffb1b6368f\">The Journal<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Hatfield on Friday released a copy of the New Mexico State Police crash report to the Cortez newspaper. <em id=\"emphasis-48f76b0648a86354b710672a74c0db2b\">The Journal<\/em> also obtained a heavily and questionably redacted copy of the San Juan County Sheriff\u2019s Office report a week after requesting the report.<\/p>\n<p>The State Police, which led the investigation, reported there was \u201cno evidence\u201d the vehicle \u201cattempted to slow down or brake before crashing.\u201d Possible contributing factors included driver inattention and the influence of alcohol.<\/p>\n<p>Hatfield\u2019s sobriety described was as \u201cconsumed alcohol, consumed controlled substance,\u201d and the State Police report stated there was an open container of \u201cMexican lagger (sic)\u201d on the passenger floorboard, as well as a \u201cpill bottle with several pills inside next to this open container labeled Ambien.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The pills reportedly were prescribed to Hatfield, who told <em id=\"emphasis-a545a0598f07f61e14197a777e51ac8e\">The Journal <\/em>on Sept. 5 that he had no recollection of anything leading up to the crash.<\/p>\n<p>The New Mexico State Police report was not redacted and contained the basic information regarding the crash.<\/p>\n<p><em id=\"emphasis-df41bf866480725f463aca7e3b2d2e21\">The Journal<\/em> learned of Hatfield\u2019s accident Aug. 31 and requested a crash report from San Juan County Sheriff\u2019s Office in New Mexico on Sept. 3. The newspaper received the redacted report from the Sheriff\u2019s Office on Sept. 10, seven days after its request and 11 days after the crash east of Road 5099, between Farmington and Bloomfield.<\/p>\n<p>The Sheriff\u2019s Office report redacted Hatfield\u2019s name, which was listed as a confidential law enforcement record. The office cited Section 14-2-1 of the Inspection of Public Records Act.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"naviga-map\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps?q=36.704913056572%2C-108.02470257672&amp;z=15&amp;output=embed\" width=\"100%\" height=\"400\" style=\"border:0;\" allowfullscreen loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Map\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n<p>The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government questioned the Sheriff\u2019s Office redaction in a letter from attorney Amanda Lavin dated Sept. 12. Lavin stated the two sections of the law that the Sheriff\u2019s Office cited did not seem to apply to the redaction.<\/p>\n<p>The first item brought to the Sheriff\u2019s Office\u2019s attention concerned the redaction of Hatfield\u2019s name, which was referenced as a \u201cprotected personal identifier.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lavin stated that \u201cprotected personal identifier information applies only to all but the last four digits of a taxpayer ID, financial account number, credit or debit card number, or driver\u2019s license, as well as all but the year of a person\u2019s date of birth, a Social Security number, and home street address of a public employee.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt appears that the redactions made here go beyond what is permitted\u201d under the law, Lavin said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"naviga-pdf-embed\"><iframe class=\"article-pdf\" src=\"https:\/\/dur-prod-public-pdfs.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/kMwqBXiW0XlrrxtWtWEXKdSef44.pdf\" style=\"width:100%;height:500px;border:1px solid #ddd\" loading=\"lazy\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dur-prod-public-pdfs.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/kMwqBXiW0XlrrxtWtWEXKdSef44.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ltr to SJCSO IPRA 9.12.24.pdf (Download PDF)<\/a><\/p>\n<p><\/p><\/iframe>\n<p class=\"naviga-pdf-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dur-prod-public-pdfs.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/kMwqBXiW0XlrrxtWtWEXKdSef44.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ltr to SJCSO IPRA 9.12.24.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>There also were concerns with other redactions under the statute that deal with \u201cvisual records\u201d that \u201cdepict great bodily harm or acts of severe violence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese incident reports are not visual records; rather, they are written records that likely would not contain images depicting great bodily harm or acts of severe violence resulting in great bodily harm,\u201d Lavin wrote, adding she believes Section 14-2-1 \u201cwould not apply to any information contained in these incident reports and cannot be the basis for redactions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The San Juan County Sheriff\u2019s Office has not responded to Lavin\u2019s letter as of Friday evening.<\/p>\n<p>Although Hatfield\u2019s name was redacted from the Sheriff\u2019s Office report, reporters from <em id=\"emphasis-ca2f469f643ec9af0158dc38678737fb\">The Journal in Cortez <\/em>and <em id=\"emphasis-f5ef4d3545a735adedf96a85942cc518\">Tri-City Record <\/em>in Farmington verified that the vehicle listed in both the State Police and the Sheriff\u2019s Office report was a blue 2020 Toyota 4Runner bearing Colorado License Plate EEPO15.<\/p>\n<p>According to the redacted report received from the San Juan County Sheriff\u2019s Office, a deputy responded to the scene of the crash about 1 a.m. and found the blue Toyota 4Runner \u201cresting perpendicular to the guardrail in the outside and middle lanes of traffic,\u201d according to the incident report.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was debris scattered throughout the road and the guard rail was destroyed from the beginning of Road 5099, continuing eastbound for approximately 15 feet,\u201d the deputy said in his report.<\/p>\n<p>The sheriff\u2019s deputy reported a \u201cpungent\u201d smell of \u201can alcoholic beverage emitting from\u201d the man identified by State Police as Hatfield, and the deputy began an investigation into the crash. He noted that Hatfield \u201cwas barely able to stand on his own,\u201d and had to be taken to San Juan Regional Medical Center, where he \u201cwas intubated with a chest tube,\u201d according to the incident report.<\/p>\n<p>The deputy\u2019s report stated the misdemeanor offenses tied to the accident were allegedly driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs, and possessing an open container of alcohol.<\/p>\n<p>The San Juan County Sheriff\u2019s Office announced its role in the case on Sept. 5 in response to questions from the <em id=\"emphasis-f8f80b950a90c5288ace7b4c7a9c8b02\">Tri-City Record<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is a DWI investigation that is going on, pending blood results,\u201d said San Juan County Sheriff Shane Ferrari, adding that tests were done to see whether drugs or alcohol were involved.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re not in a position to charge just yet,\u201d Ferrari said.<\/p>\n<p>Hatfield, who was recovering at home and told <em id=\"emphasis-7aba330d5156b71f0706533950682600\">The Journal<\/em> on Sept. 5 that he had no recollection of the crash.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere apparently was a crash, and it\u2019s a crazy story, but I went to bed and my wife was already asleep. I crawled into bed and I woke up 16 hours later in the intensive care unit,\u201d Hatfield said. \u201cI\u2019ve never had anything happen like that before, and I don\u2019t remember a single thing after getting into bed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hatfield said he had been in ICU with two collapsed lungs. He had to be bilaterally intubated, but is now back working in Cortez after a short time off to recover.<\/p>\n<p><em id=\"emphasis-8a80c530976391aafffeebb7ea933001\">Bailey Duran reports for The Journal in Cortez, and Debra Mayeux reports for the Tri-City Record in Farmington. Both newspapers are owned by Ballantine Communications Inc., based in Durango.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"naviga-pdf-embed\"><iframe class=\"article-pdf\" src=\"https:\/\/dur-prod-public-pdfs.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/QRUTNpZ3YDlewXnsUy51MpIWfAQ.pdf\" style=\"width:100%;height:500px;border:1px solid #ddd\" loading=\"lazy\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dur-prod-public-pdfs.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/QRUTNpZ3YDlewXnsUy51MpIWfAQ.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SJCSO Incident Report.pdf (Download PDF)<\/a><\/p>\n<p><\/p><\/iframe>\n<p class=\"naviga-pdf-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dur-prod-public-pdfs.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/QRUTNpZ3YDlewXnsUy51MpIWfAQ.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SJCSO Incident Report.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Montezuma County DA shares copy of state report; Journal obtains redacted report from sheriff in Farmington<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25685,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-25684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25684"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25684\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79049,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25684\/revisions\/79049"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25684"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=25684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}