Man sentenced for 2021 Santa Ana drunk driving crash

The Department of Justice announced Aug. 30 that Lionel Medina, 29, of Albuquerque and the Zia Pueblo, was sentenced for causing a car crash by drinking and driving on US 550 on Santa Ana Pueblo land in 2021.

Medina faced up to 10 years in prison but was sentenced to three years instead.

According to court documents, Santa Ana Police officers received a report of hit-and-run involving a white pickup truck on US 550 in December 2021. The truck reportedly rear-ended an SUV in the eastbound lane before fleeing the scene. Officers received a report of a head-on collision just minutes after the first one involving the same white pickup truck in the westbound lane near mile post 11.

At the scene of the head-on crash, law enforcement found a gray sedan and the white pickup truck, both with severe front-end damage. Medina was found barely conscious in the driver's seat of the truck, smelling of alcohol. Officers found multiple alcohol containers in the vehicle. A blood test taken several hours after the crash revealed Medina's blood alcohol content was 0.22, almost three times the legal limit.

The victim, unidentified, suffered extensive injuries, including multiple fractures to her spine, sternum, shoulder blade, upper arm, thigh bone and heel.