Jenipher Lewis has been released from custody following her arrest for a viral road rage incident in Albuquerque, KOAT reported.
The confrontation, which took place on August 18 near Wyoming Boulevard and Constitution Avenue, was captured in a video that spread widely online. Lewis faces multiple charges stemming from the event, including two counts of child abuse and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Additional charges filed against her include reckless driving and driving with a suspended license.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, the incident began when Lewis was driving near the intersection of Wyoming and Constitution. The video footage showed Lewis striking the rear window of a pickup truck with a bat before returning to her own vehicle.
Following the strike, the pickup truck rear-ended Lewis’s vehicle, according to the affidavit.
Lewis provided a different account to police during the investigation. She told officers that the truck had pulled in front of her, which caused her to swerve. She stated she grabbed the bat to protect herself and her children, who were inside her vehicle at the time of the confrontation.
Police confirmed that the children were in the vehicle during the incident. Officers checked on the children after the crash and reported that neither child had visible injuries.
Prosecutors had previously fought to keep Lewis in jail while awaiting trial. They argued that no set of release conditions could adequately ensure the safety of the community.
The decision to release her shows the tension in the New Mexico legal system between public safety concerns and the constitutional rights of the accused.
“If we put everybody in jail who’s facing criminal trial, we’d be building jails all over the state,” said KOAT legal expert John Day. “So there’s got to be a balance between protecting the community, protecting the rights of people who are not convicted of anything, and making sure that we’re not just jailing hundreds and thousands of people every year in New Mexico.”
Lewis remains facing the aforementioned charges as the legal process continues.
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