Man faces charges in 13th DUI arrest

A man with a lengthy history of DUI arrests has turned himself in to face charges in his 13th drunken-driving incident.

Christopher Dee Duran, 42, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail shortly after 8 p.m. Wednesday. He was wanted on a $250,000 arrest warrant, issued shortly after he was charged Tuesday with driving under the influence, driving on a suspended license and having an open container in a vehicle.

He is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges Friday morning in 3rd District Court.

Because of his prior convictions, the DUI charge against Duran is a third-degree felony rather than the traditional misdemeanor.

South Jordan police arrested Duran Sept. 12. The arrest report and Duran's DUI history eventually made its way to the desk of Assistant Police Chief Dan Pearson, who said he couldn't believe what he saw.

"What does it take to get someone from out behind the wheel?" an astounded Pearson asked. "He's a walking death sentence for someone. It really makes you wonder what can be done to stop him."

Duran was arrested after police found him passed out at the wheel of his vehicle, which was stopped near 10900 South and 3200 West at 2 p.m. with one tire on the curb, according to court documents.

The officer who awakened Duran noticed a smell of alcohol, slurred speech and poor balance, court documents state. Duran allegedly failed field sobriety tests, and a breath test registered a .248 blood-alcohol level, three times the legal limit.

South Jordan police allowed Duran to be released pending court proceedings on a $15,000 bond. If police had been aware of Duran's prior arrest, the warrant would have been much higher than $15,000, South Jordan Sgt. Dan Starks said.

Just days prior to that arrest on Sept. 4, Riverton police also arrested Duran for DUI. As in South Jordan, he was released on bond pending further proceedings. He has not yet been charged with that offense.

Ironically, the Riverton arrest — Duran's 12th offense — came one day after Duran told a judge he had successfully completed an alcohol-treatment program.

Duran appeared in Riverton Justice Court on Sept. 3 on an October 2000 drunken-driving charge. He was brought back to court because he had failed to fulfill the terms of his December 2000 sentence in that case, a Riverton court clerk said Wednesday.

At the time of his sentencing in that case, Duran was in jail on other charges. A Riverton judge allowed that time to count toward the mandatory two-day jail sentence. Duran was also ordered to pay an $1,800 fine and attend alcohol treatment classes upon his release.