New Mexico Police Bodycam Shows Woman’s Odd Claims After 1 Grave Mistake Before DUI Stop—’He Threw It at Me and…’

A 60-year-old woman identified as Sophia was arrested after the police officials were called to report a hit-and-run incident at a gas station near Uner and Waxford in New Mexico. Rio Rancho Police Sgt. Whitten reached the scene when the victims informed her that the woman reversed her car, a Toyota 4Runner, and bumped into them. When they asked her to stop to assess the damage, she allegedly drove her car forward briefly, reversed again, and struck them the second time, causing significant damage.

According to body-cam footage posted on California Bodycam‘s YouTube channel, the incident occurred on December 1, 2025, when the victims claimed to have informed the police immediately and attempted to alert the nearby officers by flashing lights while following the suspect’s vehicle.

Following the second collision, the woman fled to a nearby Smith’s location, where she gave a piece of blank paper to the victims instead of insurance information before fleeing. The officers were able to find Sophia later and confirmed that she was driving without headlights on when she fled the scene along Northern Avenue.

When Whitten interrogated the woman, she denied any crash or damage to her car. “No, there’s no damage, but I gave my insurance. He threw it at me, and he followed me with his brights,” she said, further adding that the distracting lights could have gotten them into a “bad accident.”

Nonetheless, the officials questioned her decision not to stay at the scene while the party was speaking to her. She claimed that she had no home to live and had been trying to take a hotel room for the night and repeatedly claimed that she was “tired” and disturbed by the encounter.

Officer Koger also arrived at the scene later to perform the sobriety tests and asked her if she had consumed alcohol or possessed anything illegal in her car. The suspect admitted to drinking “one buzz ball” that afternoon, though she initially said she drank “about 3 hours ago” before retracting and claiming it was “yesterday.”

She then went on to talk about her struggles with homelessness, a TBI from an assault five months prior, fibromyalgia, PTSD, and dyslexia — assertions she made during the field sobriety tests. While she denied having anything illegal in her car, the police found an open alcohol bottle in the back seat, which the woman claimed belonged to her friend and was left over from the previous day.

Nonetheless, she was placed under arrest, and the arresting officer explained to her the grounds for a DUI arrest, stating, “You have an open container in your car. Your eyes are super bloodshot and watery. Super red. You were involved in a crash when you parked here. You didn’t park straight in the lines.”

Sophia was later transported to the Rio Rancho Police Station and was charged with aggravated driving while under the influence of liquor, failure to give information at an accident, operating without required headlights, improper display of registration plate, no insurance, and possession of an open container.