Albuquerque Journal (NM) July 27, 1999, Page 1 P.I. FINDS TAOS DWI SUSPECT Colleen Heild, Journal Investigative Reporter
		'98 Case Slipped Through N.M. Cracks    An Albuquerque private investigator took six days to find an alleged drunken driver who had eluded prosecution for more than a year on charges stemming from a head-on crash near Taos. Daryl S. Hicks was in a Colorado jail Monday night. As it turns out, he was living just a mile from Jerry Sullivan, the Denver crash victim who recently waged a personal crusade to see Hicks back behind bars. Acting on information provided by Albuquerque private investigator Wayne Brewer, Denver police arrested Hicks on Monday afternoon at a job site where he was a temporary construction worker.    Brewer offered to search for Hicks free of charge after reading an Albuquerque Journal story about how the case had slipped through the cracks in Taos.    Sullivan, who suffered serious injuries in the March 31, 1998, crash, said he couldn't thank Brewer enough. "It's amazing to see what one smart, committed, motivated person could do that New Mexico State Police couldn't," said Sullivan, 37, who in June traveled to Taos to look for Hicks and find out what had happened to the case.    After locating Hicks on Friday morning, Brewer passed on his information to District Attorney John Paternoster of Taos, whose office contacted Denver police. Fearing Hicks would disappear again, Brewer also telephoned Denver police.    Described as a transient from Florida, Hicks, 37, was being held Monday on a $10,000 bond in the Denver jail. Paternoster said his office will seek to extradite Hicks to New Mexico and seek a higher bond. Paternoster praised both Brewer and Denver police. "I'm relieved that we have put this guy back into custody and we're able to begin the criminal proceedings against him with a fresh start," Paternoster said Monday.    Brewer, who has been a private investigator for about 25 years, wouldn't say exactly how he tracked down Hicks. "I picked up his trail and was on it," Brewer said, "and then an anonymous tip came in. I'll have to leave it at that." He said the tip came from someone who had read a Journal story about his involvement in the case.    Sullivan was traveling to Taos to ski when he was hit on State Road 68. Hicks had a blood-alcohol level of 0.14 percent about four hours after the crash, a State Police test showed. The legal limit is 0.08 percent.    When Sullivan returned to Taos in June, he found authorities had put the case on the back burner. State Police patrol officers tried to find Hicks for several weeks after he failed to return required paperwork to Taos Magistrate Court. State Police renewed the search
					recently at Sullivan's urging but hit another dead end. Court records indicate Hicks had lived in Taos for a short time, working at construction jobs.    Hicks was charged with DWI, third-degree felony charges of great bodily harm with a motor vehicle and driving with no insurance. Records show Magistrate Erminio Martinez set a bond of $1,000 for Hicks at arraignment the day after the crash, on March 31, 1998. The bond allowed Hicks to be released by paying $100 cash, but there is no receipt in court or jail files showing any money was paid.    Martinez issued a bench warrant for Hicks' arrest and increased the bond to $10,000 cash three days later. Martinez said later that prosecutors didn't tell him Hicks had few community ties, and said he would have never have set such a low bond had he known. Notes in the district attorney's case files show the prosecutor told a colleague he had asked for a $50,000 bond. The prosecutor has since gone into private practice and said he didn't recall what he requested.    Before agreeing to find Hicks, Brewer said he wanted assurances that authorities would act on any information he turned up and got them. Brewer telephoned State Police criminal investigator Jennie Tafoya on Friday morning with the information on Hicks. Brewer said Tafoya told him she was too busy investigating a possible homicide to pursue the matter immediately. Tafoya had been a patrol officer who investigated the crash and recently renewed the hunt for Hicks. On Monday, she told the Journal she had to act quickly on the homicide case and wasn't sure who Brewer was. She said Brewer told her he would handle it himself, so she hung up believing he would.    Brewer passed the information on to an investi-gator in Paternoster's office later that morning. It isn't known how long Hicks had been living in Denver, but Sullivan said it was "mind boggling" to discover he was so close. "I have driven within 50 feet of his house a dozen times. We've shopped at the same grocery store, I'll guarantee it." Sullivan said he hopes the criminal justice system will work when Hicks is returned to New Mexico for prosecution. "We're not out of the woods on this yet," Sullivan said. "You know, New Mexico is really a do-it-yourself state. You've got to take care of yourself and not depend on government. But what you find when you get involved ... are many people who are willing to help you along. It's those helping hands that give you the strength to go forward."   Copyright (c) 1999 Albuquerque Journal
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