Driving school owner charged with DWI
Posted at: 08/14/2009 7:13 PM
| Updated at: 08/15/2009 5:45 AM
By: Jeremy Jojola, Eyewitness News 4; Charlie Pabst, KOB.com
Thomas McGinnis
According to police, driving school owner Thomas McGinnis blew a .30—nearly four times the legal limit.
It's feared just before getting into the crash, he had just left one of his driving school locations.
The 53-year-old man now faces serious allegations after rear-ending a car in Rio Rancho a week ago.
Police records say he hit the car at a high rate of speed at 4:45 p.m. on August 6.
He was so drunk, police say he couldn't count or say the alphabet during a sobriety test.
Police spokesman John Francis says when officers responded, McGinnis had "an odor of intoxication on his breath; bloodshot, red watery eyes; slurred speech."
When he took a breathalyzer, he blew a .30 twice, police say.
McGinnis told officers he had just left his west side office—one of two driving school offices he owns.
McGinnis was not at either location and no one answered the door at his home Friday.
McGinnis is licensed by the state to run his driving school.
It is possible a DWI conviction could prevent him from driving around with students.
As for the people in the car that was hit, one woman had to be sent to the hospital for whiplash.
McGinnis' brother owns a separate driving school. He said he hadn't heard from his brother about the charge.
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