Mother stranded in desert with two children charged with child abuse, DWI

An El Paso woman stranded in the desert with her two children was arrested and charged with aggravated DWI and two counts of child abuse.

At approximately 6:30 p.m. Friday, June 2, 2017, sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a welfare check in a remote desert area near County Road D053 and Del Rey Boulevard. That is just east of Interstate 25 and south of Radium Springs.

When deputies arrived, they found Melissa Arroyos and her two children, ages one and two years, in a Chevy Trailblazer that was “inoperable,” sheriff’s officials said.

According to Arroyos, she was on her way to Santa Fe and decided to “take a shortcut through the desert.”

Deputies suspected Arroyos was driving drunk and began a series of field sobriety tests, which she allegedly failed.

The woman’s children were treated for dehydration and turned over to a relative.

Arroyos was arrested and booked into the Doña Ana County Detention Center on charges of aggravated DWI and two counts of child abuse.

She was released on her own recognizance the following day.