Nakita Aguon was neither the driver of the red Jeep that crashed into and destroyed Jerry’s Kitchen in 2021, nor was she drunk, according to evidence recently revealed in her local case.
Ms. Aguon was one of three occupants of the Jeep the early morning hours of February 26, 2021, when security footage shows the Jeep speed up while traveling north on the left-turning lane of the ITC intersection before turning left onto Chalan San Antonio, then veering into the parking lot of the Camacho Business Center and crashing right into Jerry’s Kitchen. The other occupants were Guam Police Department police officer Joneen Terlaje, Ayesha Barcinas, and Tracy Matanane.
The defendant faces a criminal misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated after the previous attorney general, Leevin Camacho, decided to bring a case against her for the crash.
The case went to the Superior Court of Guam in November 2022, with the trial continuing through December, then stopping in the middle of prosecution due to a number of factors.
Prior to the pause in the trial, where Ms. Aguon is fighting the charge, evidence was presented in open court refuting the foundation of the charge: the lone eye witness to the crash – a G4S security guard named Ruthy Pachamwai – told both police and the prosecutor that the woman who got out of the driver’s seat after the Jeep reversed from the destroyed restaurant was muscular with tattoos.
Ms. Aguon does not have any visible tattoos.
In a court filing Wednesday, defense attorneys for Ms. Aguon revealed another bombshell on the case: transcripts of the first police officer on the scene telling investigators everyone but Ms. Aguon appeared to be drunk.
According to the defense, GPD officer Chris Champion only interviewed Ms. Terlaje before instructing officer Eugenius Pewtress to write a citation to Ms. Aguon for imprudent driving. None of the reporting officers asked any of the women to submit to any field sobriety test, nor did any interview Ms. Aguon.
According to an interview by police investigators with Mr. Champion, it was Ms. Terlaje, Ms. Barcinas, and Ms. Matanane who “mentioned Defendant to be the driver of the vehicle.”
He told investigators “Terlaje appeared to be drunk and Ayesha Barcinas a little bit intoxicated; and Tracy Matanane appeared to be shaken up the most,” the court filing states.
“Champion’s observation of Defendant did not show signs of impairment,” the report states. There were “no indications of impairment with Officer Champion’s contact with Aguon. The others appeared to be intoxicated but not Defendant.”
If the lone eye witness told police (twice) that she was not the driver, and if the reporting officer on the scene stated she was the only one of the women who did not appear drunk…
Why is she on trial for drunk driving?
