Dallas police officer trainee crashed into car while intoxicated, affidavit says

A Dallas police officer trainee was arrested Wednesday on charges of driving while intoxicated and unlawfully carrying of a weapon after she crashed into a car in Stemmons Corridor.

Maricela Guzman, 25, was booked into the Dallas County jail and put on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation, police announced Thursday.

Guzman has been with the department since September 2021 and is assigned to the Southwest Patrol Division, according to police. It was unclear whether she had an attorney.

Guzman was driving about 7:30 p.m. in the 1300 block of Turtle Creek Boulevard, near Market Center and Irving boulevards, when she crashed into a car with a man inside, police wrote in an arrest-warrant affidavit. A pedestrian told police he approached the crash and heard Guzman say, “Oh my God this can’t be happening,” and said she then started to put grass in her mouth, the affidavit says.

Guzman told an officer she had one drink, then clarified she had two drinks, according to the affidavit. Another officer smelled alcohol on her breath and said her eyes appeared glassy and dilated, the affidavit says. Guzman told police she was driving home from her girlfriend’s house, and said she was nervous about the questions an officer asked her, according to the affidavit.

She said she had consumed two 12-ounce bottles of Shiner at a bar about two hours earlier and wasn’t drunk, but an officer wrote in the affidavit that she swayed while standing still and couldn’t keep her balance during sobriety tests. An officer also found a handgun in her car.

While police detained her, Guzman told an officer, “You know I’m not a bad person, I just made a bad decision,” and then later said “that this was all over a breakup,” according to the affidavit.

It was unclear whether any people were injured in the crash. Guzman bonded out of jail about 1 p.m. Thursday, the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department said.

At least seven Dallas police officers were arrested over the last year on drunken driving or public intoxication charges, The Dallas Morning News reported.

Dallas police Chief Eddie García said he is concerned about the number of alcohol-related arrests that involve officers, and last week announced a new initiative that allows officers who request help for alcohol abuse to get 30 days of paid leave to enroll in a rehabilitation program. The officer must request the help before an arrest or violation of departmental policies and procedures.

“Utilizing the 30-day leave on the front end when our members acknowledge they have a problem and ask for help seems like a small investment in our people for a hopeful greater gain,” the chief said last week.