A Clifton woman arrested Wednesday on charges of possession of methamphetamine in Pitkin County later bonded out of jail and was arrested Thursday on suspicion of drunken driving in Garfield County, according to sources.
Jennifer Smith, 49, also was arrested for DUI last month in Rifle and has a third drunken driving arrest on her record from Mesa County, according to court sources. A spokesman for the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office declined to release a report about Smith’s DUI arrest Thursday, so details of it were not available.
However, the specifics of her arrest early Wednesday by a Pitkin County sheriff’s deputy appeared in a warrantless affidavit filed in Pitkin County District Court.
The deputy first began following Smith’s car Tuesday on Highway 82 about 11:40 p.m. near the Wingo Junction Bridge because she was driving between 20 and 35 mph in a 55 mph zone, according to the affidavit. Smith’s car crossed the lane line four times during the time the deputy followed her.
After he pulled her over, Smith told him the car was not operating properly and “it sounded like metal was scraping on the road … and that the wheels felt like they were going to fall off the car,” the affidavit states.
Smith told the deputy she was on probation for meth possession, while another deputy spotted a bottle of vodka under the passenger seat of her car. Smith, however, denied having anything to drink or consuming drugs, according to the affidavit.
During a search of her car, a deputy found a small toiletries pouch containing a plastic bag with a crystalline substance, a needle and syringe and other items. Smith said the pouch belonged to a friend who had used her car, the affidavit states.
The vodka bottle had been opened and was three-quarters full.
Smith admitted to being arrested for DUI in Rifle in August, while a prosecutor said in court Wednesday she also had a previous DUI arrest in Mesa County. District Judge Chris Seldin set her bond at $1,000 cash or surety and she was released from the Pitkin County Jail on Wednesday.
A Garfield County sheriff’s deputy arrested her Thursday and charged her with DUI, driving a defective vehicle and driving with a restrained license because of previous DUI offenses, according to the Garfield County Jail website and the Sheriff’s Office spokesman.