N.M. Man Arrested on 28th DWI Charge

[Smed1065]

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Bernalillo County sheriff's deputies have arrested a man on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, marking his 28th such offense. Joseph Brill, 53, was driving on a revoked license when deputies saw him park in a driveway in a northeast Albuquerque neighborhood and fall out of his pickup truck Wednesday evening. He smelled of alcohol and had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech, according to a criminal complaint.

Deputies said they tried to give Brill a field sobriety test but he could not complete the test. He then refused to give a breath test.

Deputies also found an open container of beer in his truck.

"People like Joseph Brill will never get it. They don't care," Sheriff Darren White said. "He needs to go to prison, and that's the way we're going to insure he does not drive a car drunk."

According to the complaint, Brill had 27 prior DWI offenses with at least 14 convictions before his arrest Wednesday. Records also show that he has had his license revoked five times and has spent nearly four years in New Mexico jails and prisons on DWI charges.

At the time of his arrest, he was on parole for two of the convictions, according to records.

Linda Atkinson, executive director of the Albuquerque-based DWI Resource Center, said she had never seen someone with 28 DWI arrests.

"It's pretty disgusting to see someone who can continue to defy the odds with a history like that," she said.

Brill was being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center on a $100,000 bond. His case will be heard in state district court because it is a felony.

Under New Mexico law, the maximum sentence for a seventh or subsequent DWI is three years in prison, a $5,000 fine, alcohol treatment and lifetime driver's license revocation.

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WTF, I guess he will never play in the NFL................

I was worried for a certain member of the board until I saw the age?

[CoMoChief]

I got a DWI once because I had to go through a damn sobriety check point and I was coming home from a bar one night.

Anyways I had to do this SATOP program and this guy said this was his 15th DWI but I guess where he came from they just gave you a ticket, towed your car and back then before they reflected on your record the cops would usually just give you a ride home. He lived in a rural area I guess I dunno.

[kstater]

Well with 28 DWI's he's lucky he hasn't killed anyone.

[FAX]

Just what I was thinking, Mr. kstater.

Damned fool should be locked up with an insomniac, love-starved orangutan.

FAX

[Deberg_1990]

Wow......just wow......

[Smed1065]

I say it is sorry (for society) for him to be able to get that many.

I grew up in the days of the cops just pouring out the contents and telling you to go straight home. I learned after my first DUI after I was 25. I grew up when DUI was just accepted but I knew it was serious and rewired my thinking after the first time.