The Department of Public Safety cited a local restaurant earlier this week for overserving alcohol to a man who left the business and crashed into a car, killing two teenagers.

The Special Investigations Division issued one citation to the manager of the Blue Corn Cafe and Brewery, 4056 Cerrillos Road, and one citation to the waitress who served James Ruiz, 35, said Lt. Eric Garcia, a spokesman.

Jeff Jinnett, president of the company that owns Blue Corn, has said Ruiz and a male friend each drank three beers and three shots of Crown Royal whiskey at the restaurant. A woman with the two men drank three vodka cocktails, he has said.

When the group ordered another round of drinks, the server told the manager, who told the group they would have to order food if they wanted more alcohol, Jinnett has said. The trio ordered appetizers and more alcohol, but before the food and drink arrived, they fled the restaurant around 9 p.m. without paying their $150 bill, he has said.

The woman, however, left her purse at the table, and the restaurant charged the bill to a credit card in the purse, Jinnett has said.

A phone message left for Jinnett on Wednesday was not returned.

Ruiz and his friends, meanwhile, jumped into a 1995 Ford F-250 pickup and, with Ruiz at the wheel, drove down Cerrillos Road toward Interstate 25. Near the Santa Fe Auto Park, the truck slammed into the back of a sedan carrying the Peshlakai family of Naschitti, killing Deshauna Peshlakai, 17, and Del Lynn Peshlakai, 19.

The girls' parents were injured in the crash.

Ruiz — who had a blood alcohol content of 0.22 and told police he'd been drinking since 1 p.m. — has been charged with two counts of vehicular homicide. He has another DWI charge from May 2008, which is still pending in the Santa Fe County Magistrate Court, in which his breath alcohol content was 0.35 — more than four times the legal driving limit.

Ruiz — son of Joe Ruiz, a former state official from Santa Fe now serving federal prison time for a government corruption case — remains incarcerated at the Santa Fe County jail.

The Alcohol and Gaming Division of the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department assesses the penalties. A first offense of selling alcohol to an intoxicated person can result in fines between $1,000 and $2,000 and suspension of alcohol sales for one business day. A server can be assessed a fine of up to $500 for a first offense and/or a 30-day suspension. The penalties can be enhanced if facts and circumstances warrant.

Contact Jason Auslander at 986-3076 or :jauslander@sfnewmexican.com.