Clovis man arrested for 10th DWI

CLOVIS — A Clovis man was arrested early New Year's eve on his 10th charge of driving while intoxicated.

Randall Pruit, 54, remained Monday evening without bond in the Curry County Adult Detention Center, according to jail administrator Mark Gallegos. He was brought into custody there around 4 a.m. Sunday, charged with speeding, leaving the scene of an accident with property damage and driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, jail records show.

Pruit in 2013 helped to start a halfway house for recently incarcerated men.

A director of the GLU ("God Loves Underdogs") Factory said in October that although Pruit founded the organization he was not involved in its day-to-day operations.

Sunday's arrest marked Pruit's 10th DWI charge, following a years-long gap broken Oct. 21, when he was pulled over for erratic driving and charged with aggravated DWI, speeding and failure to maintain traffic lane, according to police and court records.

Pruit bonded out of jail for those charges Nov. 1 on a $25,000 cash surety bond. His next court appearance on that matter will be an arraignment yet to be scheduled, District Attorney Andrea Reeb said Monday.

Reeb said she will ask Judge Drew Tatum to readdress Pruit's conditions of release from the ninth DWI charge and "absolutely will" request he continue to be held without bond on the newest case when he goes before a judge this week.

The state asked Pruit be held without bond on the Oct. 21 charges during a Nov. 1 pre-trial detention hearing, but his defense attorney pointed out his most recent prior at that time dated back to 2009. Tatum approved the bond with conditions of "no alcohol" and that he only travel out of town for work and business, records show.

Reeb said investigators intended to serve a search warrant to test Pruit's blood for its alcohol concentration on the Dec. 31 arrest. She said she was not certain of Pruit's driver license status, but noted he was not charged Sunday for driving with an invalid license.

"I didn't think he would have a license after that last one but that is up to the Department of Motor Vehicles," she added.

The Eastern New Mexico News archives show Pruit has spent two years in prison for DWI.