SAN ANTONIO – A driver who had a blood alcohol content nearly three times the legal limit is accused of striking and seriously injuring a jogger in September.
Leah Aguirre Lopez, who was 22 years old at the time of the crash, was charged with intoxication assault following the Sept. 8 accident in the 6300 block of Babcock Road.
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Lopez was driving her 2008 Toyota Camry southbound on the road when she jumped a curb and struck a jogger, 27, according to an arrest affidavit.
She then crashed into a wooden utility pole and spun back to the road, the affidavit states.
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Responding officers had to break a window to extract the driver because the car doors were jammed shut.
An officer at the scene said Lopez was the only occupant in the car and she was “stretched out across the front seat," according to the affidavit.
Lopez was booked into the Bexar County Jail Wednesday following an investigation and a toxicology report that stated her blood-alcohol level measured .213, according to the affidavit. The toxicology report was released on Nov. 13.
After the crash, a witness and friend described to police how she attempted to stop Lopez from driving after noticing she seemed intoxicated.
The woman said Lopez arrived at her apartment in the 14200 block of Vance Jackson, about five miles from the wreck, around 9:40 p.m. and left around 10:15 p.m.
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The friend said Lopez “looked tired," asked if she had been drinking and noticed she seemed “sluggish,” the affidavit states.
While getting ready to leave the apartment, Lopez said she was OK to drive although the friend offered to take her home, the affidavit states.
“She wasn’t comfortable with (Lopez) driving and (Lopez) said no,” according to the affidavit, and she decided to follow her home.
The friend said Lopez “would abruptly slam on her brakes" and stray from her lane, the affidavit states.
The woman attempted to pull up beside Lopez’s car to tell her to pull over because she felt she was “not okay” to drive.
Lopez then sped up and began driving “super fast,” the witness told police. At one point she reached speeds up to 70 mph, according to the affidavit.
Lopez’s vehicle was traveling at 52 mph at the time of impact with the jogger, the affidavit states. She allegedly did not attempt to brake.
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She was transported to University Hospital where a blood sample was drawn.
The jogger suffered a femur fracture, a tibia-fibula fracture, six rib fractures, a facial fracture, and a skull fracture, according the affidavit.
Online jail records accessed on Wednesday showed Lopez posted a $15,000 bond. As of 2:40 p.m. Thursday, she is in the process of being released, a jail official told KSAT.