As Santa Fe County sheriff's Deputy Brian Nissen explained how he patrols for drunken drivers last Tuesday night, he suddenly stopped. "See that?" he asked, before tearing off after a pickup that had made an illegal left-hand turn at the intersection of Cerrillos Road and Jaguar Drive.

Nissen followed the pickup, which had an out-of-state license plate, for a mile or so with no further suspicious behavior before determining the driver was likely sober and from out of town and didn't understand the parameters of the intersection.

Nissen is one of six county deputies specially trained to patrol for drunken drivers. He has been looking for intoxicated drivers for the past four years, and said he mainly pays attention to unusual driving patterns when determining who to pull over. In reality, however, just about any minor infraction — from a broken taillight to a motorcycle passenger not wearing glasses — can earn a motorist a stop on the side of the road.

"The object is to contact as many people as possible," Nissen said. "I'm guaranteed at least one to three (drunken drivers) a night."

From about 8 p.m. Tuesday until about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, Nissen pulled over, among others, an elderly woman who didn't know her headlight was out and a man coming home from school in Albuquerque who was slightly weaving on Cerrillos Road. He also handed out a speeding ticket to a young man in a Dodge Charger station wagon who objected to the deputy shining the spotlight on his car after he pulled him over.

"It's all random," Nissen said. "You sort of just bounce around (looking for drunken drivers)."

As the night wore on, Nissen spotted Sgt. Cliff Coleman, a veteran DWI officer, driving in the opposite lane and called him on his cell phone. Nissen gave Coleman a hard time because Coleman, who came on duty not long before, hadn't yet pulled anyone over.

Less than a minute later, Coleman's voice came over the police radio. He had spotted a man driving a pickup truck down the middle of Lopez Lane. The man turned onto Calle Atajo and pulled to the side of the road. "They finally pulled over after they finished hiding everything," Coleman said over the radio.

Nissen drove to Coleman's location, checked out the driver and came back to his cruiser. "This one's definitely going to be a DWI," he said.

Other deputies, including one who speaks Spanish, arrived at the scene. The Spanish-speaking officer asked the driver, Lopoldo Pacheco-Apodaca, 34, to take sobriety tests. Pacheco-Apodaca, who had already admitted to drinking two beers, shook his head and adamantly refused to submit to the tests.

"All right, you're under arrest for DWI," Nissen said, handcuffing Pacheco-Apodaca's hands behind his back and placing him in the back of his cruiser. Officers also found an open bottle of beer underneath the passenger seat of the truck.

Nissen transported Pacheco-Apodaca back to the sheriff's office. Pacheco-Apodaca agreed to take a breath test and blew a 0.25, more than three times the legal driving limit.

Asked if 10 more deputies like him out patrolling each night would also catch one to three drunken drivers a night, Nissen said, "I have no doubt about it."

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