A Border Patrol agent was charged with extreme DUI in connection with an incident where she crashed her pickup into two vehicles in the parking lot of the agency’s Ajo station.
Tracy Hicks, 37, was armed and in uniform when a state trooper cited her around 1:30 p.m. June 8, Arizona Department of Public Safety records show. The results of a blood draw indicated a blood-alcohol content of 0.319, roughly four times the legal limit.
The trooper’s report, obtained by the Star through a public-records request, said Hicks drove department vehicles during her shift, which began at 6 a.m. and was scheduled to end at 3 p.m.
An agent who was in the parking lot told the trooper he saw Hicks driving her pickup through the parking lot and heard a “loud crash and screeching tires” followed by “hearing the tires screech as if the person was trying to get unstuck.”
The agent then saw the pickup had noticeable front-end damage and the right front tire was completely flat.
Hicks was detained on the shoulder of Arizona 85 near milepost 52, about one mile from the Border Patrol station, DPS records show.
Hicks told the trooper she had been drinking wine at home the night before and had not had a drink in the hour before the wreck.
She was taken to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department office in Ajo for sobriety tests and released into the custody of a Border Patrol supervisor, the trooper’s report stated.
Hicks was not injured in the wrecks, which caused about $3,800 in damages, DPS records show.
Ajo Justice Court records show Hicks was charged Aug. 18 on extreme DUI, failure to stop after striking an unattended vehicle and criminal damage charges, all of which are misdemeanors.
On June 15, the Pima County Attorney’s Office asked the judge, citing “officer request,” to dismiss a charge for failing to stop after striking a vehicle. The request was granted two days later.
Hicks’ next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 15. Court documents do not indicate whether she has hired an attorney.
Hicks, who has been an agent since 2003, will remain on “non-enforcement, restricted-duty status” until her court case is adjudicated and an internal review is completed, according to a statement issued by the Border Patrol in response to an inquiry from the Star.
The agency takes seriously any allegation of misconduct and holds agents to high standards, the statement said. The Tucson Sector Border Patrol will cooperate fully with any investigations related to the June 8 incident.
The statement did not address questions from the Star about the circumstances of the alleged DUI.
In 2013, then-Border Patrol Chief Michael Fisher launched a project to reduce the number of alcohol-related arrests of agents, which came to two arrests each week. At the time, Tucson Sector Chief Manuel Padilla told the Star the sector saw 10 such arrests in fiscal year 2013 and 22 in fiscal year 2012.
