A 29-year-old Horizon City woman was arrested after police say she was caught driving a motorized scooter with blood alcohol levels more than three times the Texas legal limit. Officers identified her as Nina Teresa Jimenez, and jail records show she was booked on a DWI charge carrying one of the state's stiffest alcohol-content enhancements.
Fall, Help Up, Then Drove Off Anyway
According to KFOX, the incident began when a caller reported seeing a woman who appeared intoxicated fall off a motorized scooter near Orchid Drive and Golden Eagle Road. A witness told officers they saw Jimenez drive the scooter and fall, helped her back up, and then watched her drive off again anyway.
Officers ultimately found Jimenez trying to drive away on the scooter in the 14000 block of Rudi Kuefner Drive, near Darrington Boulevard, roughly 1.5 miles from where she was first seen, per Google Maps. The station's report notes officers described her as having trouble keeping her balance, glossy eyes, slurred speech and an odor of alcohol.
Breath Test Topped 0.25
Officers administered a field sobriety test, which showed Jimenez had lost the normal use of her mental or physical faculties, the Horizon City Police Department said. Her breath test results came back at 0.252 and 0.24 — more than three times the state's 0.08 legal limit for blood alcohol concentration.
Jail records show Jimenez was charged with driving while intoxicated with a BAC greater than 0.15, a charge that carries a heightened penalty tier in Texas. She was booked into the El Paso County Downtown Jail, where her bond was set at $5,000. She was released two days later, on Oct. 5, after posting a surety bond, per the same jail records.
Not the First Horizon City DWI Arrest This Year
Jimenez's arrest follows a similar case in the same city earlier this year. KTSM reported that 33-year-old Crystal Ellen Rios was arrested in Horizon City on June 19 after an officer observed her failing to signal and reversing in a roadway in the 13000 block of Eastlake Boulevard shortly before 2 a.m. Police said Rios showed slurred speech, difficulty maintaining balance and the odor of alcohol, and she admitted to consuming alcoholic beverages before getting behind the wheel.
Officers determined Rios had lost the normal use of her mental and physical faculties due to alcohol, and her breath alcohol concentrations came back at 0.126 and 0.135 — still well above the legal limit, though lower than the readings reported in Jimenez's case. Rios was taken to the El Paso County Detention Facility and issued a $1,500 bond, less than a third of the bond set for Jimenez.
Statewide, alcohol-related crashes remain a persistent safety concern. The Texas Traffic Records Coordinating Committee reported that 1,053 fatalities in 2024 were tied to alcohol-related crashes, underscoring the stakes behind impaired-driving enforcement even when the vehicle in question is something as small as a motorized scooter.
