A Farmington woman has been charged with driving while under the influence of drugs and child abuse after police alleged she drove with a child in the vehicle while impaired and reported taking prescription medications before driving, according to a criminal complaint and statement of probable cause.

Cheridan V. Nakai, 37, was arrested Sept. 6 and charged with driving while under the influence of drugs and abuse of a child that does not result in death or great bodily harm, a third-degree felony. The child-abuse charge stems from the allegation that Nakai drove while allegedly impaired with a child in the vehicle. All charges are allegations based on court records, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

According to the probable cause statement, Farmington police were dispatched at approximately 4:28 p.m. Sept. 6 to a vehicle complaint originating from a Walgreens near the intersection of Gila Street and Main Street. The reporting party told dispatch that a person who had come through the drive-through appeared impaired, was allegedly acting intoxicated and could not write legibly. The report also indicated that a child was in the passenger seat.

Officers located the vehicle and conducted a traffic stop in the Walmart parking lot at 1400 W. Main St., according to the statement. Officer Nicholas McTavish reported that another officer identified the driver as Nakai and said she was having trouble balancing and stumbled while getting out of the vehicle.

McTavish reported that he also observed Nakai to be unsteady on her feet and saw a child seated in the passenger seat of her vehicle. According to the statement, Nakai told the officer she had not consumed alcohol recently.

Before standardized field sobriety tests were conducted, Nakai told the officer that she had a back injury that caused her to have difficulty balancing or walking, according to the probable cause statement. McTavish wrote that he advised Nakai the tests were not pass-or-fail tests and that she agreed to perform them.

According to the statement, McTavish reported observing two validated clues during the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, seven validated clues during the walk-and-turn test and three validated clues during the one-leg-stand test.

The probable cause statement also describes several alternative tests. McTavish reported that Nakai counted backward very quickly during a numbers test. During an alphabet test, the officer instructed her to recite from K through X, but the statement alleges she continued through Z. During a finger-dexterity test, McTavish reported that Nakai completed two cycles after being instructed to perform three.

According to the statement, another officer conducted advanced roadside testing and questioned Nakai about medication. McTavish wrote that officers learned Nakai reported taking prescription medications before driving and that she had prescriptions for medications officers believed could affect driving ability. The other officer reported that, based on his training and experience, he believed Nakai was impaired.

McTavish wrote that he then spoke with Nakai again, and Nakai reported taking prescription medications about an hour before his contact with her. The court records provided do not identify the medications or include laboratory results establishing what substances, if any, were detected in her system.

According to the probable cause statement, McTavish arrested Nakai on suspicion of DWI and read her the implied-consent advisory for a blood test. Nakai consented to a blood draw, according to the officer.

The statement says Nakai was transported to the Farmington Police Department before being taken to San Juan Regional Medical Center, where an emergency medical technician collected a blood sample at approximately 6:13 p.m. The supplied court records do not include the results of that blood test.

McTavish also wrote that another officer advised him Nakai declined to perform a drug recognition expert evaluation. According to the statement, officers arranged for Nakai’s mother to pick up the child who had been in the vehicle, and the vehicle was towed.

Nakai was then transported to the San Juan County Adult Detention Center and booked, according to the probable cause statement. McTavish wrote that a criminal-history check related to DWI indicated the current allegation represented Nakai’s first DWI offense.

Separate 11th Judicial District Court records supplied to San Juan Pulse show that Nakai entered a no-contest plea in March 2025 to attempted child abuse in a case involving an offense dated Dec. 12, 2019. The court subsequently withheld adjudication of guilt and granted her a conditional discharge, according to the order. The offense was identified as a fourth-degree felony, and Counts 2 and 3 were dismissed under the plea agreement.

A New Mexico Corrections Department document filed Aug. 6, 2025, states Nakai was placed under probation supervision for 18 months beginning March 31, 2025, with a listed supervision end date of Sept. 29, 2026. A separate Corrections Department arrest order dated Sept. 6, 2026, states Nakai was under probation supervision in that case and alleges the new DWI and child-abuse allegations violated her conditions of supervision. The order authorized her arrest and detention for investigation.

CHARGES FILED

• Driving while under the influence of drugs
• Abuse of a child (does not result in death or great bodily harm) — third-degree felony

CASE STATUS

A San Juan County magistrate judge found probable cause in the current case on Sept. 8. The probable cause determination states that Nakai was to be held pending entry of a release order after she appears before a judge.

Separate Corrections Department records show that a probation arrest order was also issued Sept. 6 in Nakai’s prior district-court case based on the new DWI and child-abuse allegations. The order authorized her arrest and detention for investigation of the alleged probation violation.

The supplied current-case records do not indicate whether Nakai was subsequently released or whether an attorney has entered an appearance on her behalf.

SOURCE

According to a criminal complaint and statement of probable cause filed Sept. 8, 2026, in San Juan County Magistrate Court in Farmington, case M-47-FR-2026-00490, along with a probable cause determination filed in that case. Prior-case information is based on separate 11th Judicial District Court records in case D-1116-CR-2024-00658-8, along with New Mexico Corrections Department probation-supervision and arrest-order records associated with case D-1116-CR-2024-00658.

LEGAL DISCLAIMER

The current charges are allegations based on court records, and Nakai is presumed innocent of those charges unless proven guilty in a court of law. The separately reported 2025 matter resulted in a conditional discharge after the court withheld adjudication of guilt, according to the supplied district-court order. The probation-violation allegation described in the Corrections Department arrest order is also an allegation and is not reported here as a judicial finding that Nakai violated probation.