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Aspen man accumulates two DUIs in three hours

Jason Auslander
The Aspen Times
Marvin Luna-Lovo

A 26-year-old Aspen man, pulled over by police Friday night for driving erratically, admitted smoking marijuana and drinking “a shot,” before officers took him to jail and later released him to a sober friend, according to court documents.

About half an hour later, officers pulled over the same man again for the same thing, found him “disoriented” and took him back to jail, where he remained until he appeared in Pitkin County Court on Monday morning.

At that time, Pitkin County Judge Erin Fernandez-Ely allowed Marvin Luna-Lovo out of jail on a $1,000 personal recognizance bond — he will owe $1,000 if he doesn’t appear for future court dates — and required him to be monitored for sobriety.



“This is your opportunity to make the best out of this,” Fernandez-Ely said through a Spanish interpreter.

Few details of Luna-Lovo’s first arrest were available Monday, though a police report indicates he was arrested Friday in the 400 block of South Garmisch Street based on a call that came in at 9:50 p.m. At that point, he admitted smoking pot and drinking the shot, though his blood-alcohol content was only .02, under the legal driving limit of .08, according to court documents.




He was booked into Pitkin County Jail at about 11:30 p.m. on charges of driving under the influence of drugs and driving without a license. Luna-Lovo was released at 12:19 a.m. to a responsible, sober friend, in this case his roommate, who took a blood-alcohol test at the jail attesting to his sobriety, the documents state.

“It sounds like the responsible person wasn’t very responsible,” Fernandez-Ely said later.

Then at 12:48 a.m., an Aspen police officer saw a car turn onto Main Street from South Garmisch Street and head westbound.

“The vehicle appeared to accelerate quickly to approximately 30 miles per hour before making a jerky lane change and slowing down to approximately 20 mph in a posted 25 mph zone,” according to an affidavit for arrest filed in court.

The officer continued to follow the car as it continued driving 25 mph in a 35 mph zone, then a 45 mph zone, before recognizing it as Luna-Lovo’s and pulling him over near Truscott, documents state.

“Rather than pulling to the right, Luna stopped in the left turn lane before turning left onto Pyramid (Road) and stopping with his emergency lights flashing in the middle of the road,” the affidavit states. “Luna was smoking and appeared disoriented. Luna explained that he was in process of driving to Basalt.”

The officer called a Spanish-speaking colleague and reminded Luna-Lovo that he’d been told not to drive under the influence and without a valid license, according to the affidavit. Luna-Lovo failed roadside sobriety tests and was taken back to jail.

He was charged with driving under the influence of drugs, driving without a license and speeding in the second case.

Luna-Lovo told Fernandez-Ely he works in construction and has lived in Aspen for the past five months.

jauslander@aspentimes.com

Crime


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