A former court employee accused of leaving an injured bicyclist on a busy Sierra Vista roadway and then assaulting a Bisbee police officer while resisting arrest has an opportunity to resolve the two felony cases next week.
Mayra Munoz was arrested July 9, 2020 on suspicion of hit-and-run after a 68-year-old man suffered a fractured pelvis when his bike was struck by a car on State Route 90 near Canyon Vista Medical Center. The bicyclist, Don Dunno, had a greenlight to be traveling eastbound as Munoz’s vehicle made a right turn on a red light.
She is also charged with kicking the officer who conducted a traffic stop of Munoz’s vehicle which matched witness descriptions of the vehicle that pulled out in front of Dunno.
Munoz, 38, will be in court Tuesday for an Early Resolution Court hearing in hopes of reaching a non-trial resolution, also known as a plea deal, in one or both cases. She has remained out of custody on a personal recognizance release pending the outcome of the two cases.
An accident reconstruction report by the Sierra Vista Police Department indicates Munoz may not have seen Dunno or the bicycle due to the angle of the paths both were traveling. However, she admitted knowing something “hit” her driver’s side mirror with enough force to push the mirror inward.
Munoz also told officers that after the impact she looked back in her rearview mirror but saw nothing. She also said she saw nothing in her driver’s side mirror, although she noticed a small dent on the driver’s side of her car.
Instead of stopping, Munoz continued on SR90 to State Route 80 to go to work at the Cochise County Superior Court in Bisbee. Public records show Sierra Vista police officers notified DPS and Bisbee PD to be on the lookout for the suspect vehicle.
Munoz was taken into custody on SR80 near the Mule Pass Tunnel. She disputes allegations that she kicked at officers in an attempt to resist arrest but claimed to be acting in self-defense because she did not understand why officers were trying to pull her from her car.
The incident led Munoz to lose her job with the Clerk of the Superior Court last August. There is no mention in the two court cases as to why formal criminal charges were not filed against Munoz until March for the accident and April for the resisting arrest assault.
Munoz is represented by criminal defense attorney Adele Drumlevitch while the prosecution is being handled by Michael Powell of the Cochise County Attorney’s Office.
