The Sierra Vista Police Department arrested 31-year-old Sierra Vista resident Jenna Suzanne Thames-Valenzuela early Sunday morning for driving under the influence when she had four minors riding in the vehicle.
An SVPD officer conducted a traffic stop at about 2:27 a.m. on Sunday in the area of Snyder Boulevard and Via Riata. The officer suspected the driver may be impaired after observing several traffic violations. The officer made contact with the driver, Thames-Valenzuela, and five passengers, including four minors ranging in age from 18 months to 15 years old. The passengers were all Thames-Valenzuela’s children.
Once the initial investigation was completed, Thames-Valenzuela was arrested for driving under the influence and was transported to the Sierra Vista Police Department for further investigation. Because she had three minors under the age of 15 in the vehicle, Thames-Valenzuela was booked into Cochise County Jail on three counts of aggravated DUI in addition to one count of extreme DUI and one count of DUI. The threshold for an extreme DUI is a blood alcohol content of 0.15 or higher.
The 19-year-old passenger, Sierra Vista resident Breanna Valenzuela, was also arrested for being under the age of 21 with alcohol in her system.
“It’s never safe to drive under the influence. Doing so with children in the vehicle puts them at risk too and is considered an aggravating factor under Arizona law if they are younger than 15,” says SVPD Cpl. Tim Wachtel, the department’s public information officer and DUI task force coordinator.