Hit-and-run suspect’s own doorbell camera helps bust him for DUI

Jon Johnson File Photo/Gila Herald: Safford Police arrested a man for DUI after his own doorbell camera showed he was driving when he pulled up to his residence.

By Jon Johnson

jonjohnsonnews@gmail.com

SAFFORD – An officer used footage from the Ring doorbell camera from a suspect’s residence to show he was driving after fleeing a hit-and-run collision while allegedly intoxicated.

According to a Safford Police report, officers were dispatched at about 10:18 p.m. on Monday to the 1100 block of 5th Avenue regarding a multi-vehicle collision.

Upon arrival, officers were informed that the suspect pickup truck had fled westbound on 11th Street.

A Graham County Sheriff’s Office deputy then located a fluid trail on 8th Avenue and followed it. The deputy then received information that the truck had fled to 16th Street.

Officers located the suspect Dodge Ram truck parked under an awning at a residence on 16th Street with its hazard lights illuminated. The Ram showed evidence of being in a collision.

As officers approached, a male subject – later identified as Jake Jurado, of Safford, ran from the passenger side of the truck. The officer advised Jurado appeared to have a laceration to the back of his head that caused blood to run down his neck.

The suspect’s Ring doorbell showed him driving when he pulled up to his residence.

Jurado was quickly apprehended and placed in handcuffs. He allegedly advised that he was just a passenger in the truck and that it was driven by Lorenzo Contreras, who was found standing at the front of the residence. Jurado was later given medical treatment for his injury.

Contreras, who is the registered owner of the truck, initially denied driving. An officer then noticed a Ring doorbell camera and received permission from a resident to view the footage. The camera had recorded the arrival of the truck and showed Jurado as the passenger and Contreras as the driver.

According to the report, Contreras had bloodshot, watery eyes, slurred speech, and smelled of an intoxicant. A tow inventory of the truck yielded a bag filled with beer cans and two half-empty liquor bottles.

Contreras also admitted that he is required to have an ignition interlock for the truck due to a previous DUI, but that he was not compliant. The truck was then impounded for 30 days.

Contreras was arrested for DUI and transported to the Safford Police Department, where his blood was taken for testing purposes. He was then driven back to his residence and released.

Possible DUI charges and citations regarding the collision are pending lab test analysis and review by prosecutors.