Socorro officers starstruck arresting former UFC fighter Diego Sanchez for DWI

Socorro police arrested former UFC fighter Diego Sanchez on a DWI charge earlier this month, with lapel video showing officers expressing admiration for him as they took him into custody. The arrest could violate a probation condition that bars him from drinking, his probation status and what happens next will be up to the court.

Officers responded on September 7 to a gas station near California Street, where they watched a stumbling Sanchez get behind the wheel, according to lapel video. The video showed an officer asking Sanchez how much he had had to drink and whether he would do tests to confirm he was fit to drive.

Sanchez eventually agreed to a breathalyzer. An officer told him the result was “aggravated, but barely.” Sanchez blew a .18 and .17, more than twice the legal limit, and officers placed him in handcuffs.

“You wanna know what’s crazy? You’re one of my favorite fighters to watch. You are,” the officer said in the video. The officer added, “I don’t like to do this either. But I have to do my job.”

The arrest comes months after Sanchez received five years of probation for shooting a gun from inside a vehicle while on I-40. One condition of that probation was that he not have alcohol.

“But yeah, I got to meet my favorite UFC fighter in a way I never imagined,” the officer said.

Sanchez faces the DWI charge along with the probation violation. He was on probation for firing a gun from a moving vehicle last year when authorities in Socorro County arrested him.