EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — An El Paso man is facing a charge of murder after killing another man while driving drunk in East El Paso early Thursday morning, March 28, and KTSM has obtained court documents that show what led up to the incident.
Court documents state Enrique Joel Pena, 35 told police that he had a “few drinks” at his work at Union Draft House located at 1960 George Dieter that Thursday morning and headed home.
Pena told police that while approaching the intersection of George Dieter and Pellicano, a black car driven by Isidro Ruiz Jr., 42 cut him off and caused the collision.
At the scene of the crash, an officer noticed an odor of alcohol coming from Pena’s breath and person and he also had “red blood shot eyes with droopy eyelids,” according to court documents.
Court documents state Pena struggled to perform several sobriety tests and when asked if he could provide a breath or blood sample, he refused.
Pena was placed under arrest after an officer determined he was intoxicated. A blood search warrant was also executed, according to court documents.
Pena later told police he did not remember anything else other than crashing into the black vehicle and being arrested, according to court documents.
An investigation conducted by the Special Traffic Investigations unit revealed that Ruiz was most likely stopped at a red traffic light facing southbound when Pena rear-ended him, according to court documents.
Court documents say that there were no skid or tire marks at the scene prior to the crash, indicating that Pena most likely did not apply his brakes and was “probably not aware of the deceased’s vehicle being stopped, due to his level of intoxication.”
Pena was booked into the El Paso County Detention Facility with a charge of murder under a $650,000 bond.
According to court records, Pena was previously convicted of DWI-related misdemeanor charges in 2012 and in 2014.
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