DWI Hit Parade!

RIDE WITH A DRUNK DRIVER, BUY A TICKET TO YOUR OWN FUNERAL

From Houston Chronicle
A 22-year-old Houston man has been charged with driving while intoxicated and failure to stop and render aid in a wreck Friday that left one person dead and two others injured
Edgar Carboso Cruz was speeding westbound in the 1000 block of West Mount Houston at about 10:15 p.m. Friday when his Ford Explorer hit the passenger side of a Chevrolet Cavalier, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
The front-seat passenger in the Cavalier, identified as Brandon Lee, was pronounced dead at Memorial Hermann Hospital. ….MORE

From Houston Chronicle
Prosecutor Catherine Evans on Monday showed jurors a wide-angle photo of a nighttime crime scene on the North Loop with wreckage strewn across the highway and pointed out white sheets on the blacktop.
“This defendant’s car flew through Officer Kevin Will, mutilating his body,” she said. “Three sheets were needed to cover his body … in three separate places.”
Evans told the jury she would later this week ask them to sentence 27-year-old Johoan Rodriguez to life in prison. More than a dozen Houston police officers were in court for opening arguments in the punishment phase of Rodriguez’s trial …MORE

From KHOU
HOUSTON – More police officers have been punished after the Houston Police Department fired a patrol sergeant charged with drunk driving after he crashed into a school bus on his way to work.
From the beginning, witnesses who saw HPD Sgt. Ruben Trejo hit a private school bus back in April thought something was wrong.
“It looks like a cover up,” said one witness at the time. ….MORE

From KHOU
HOUSTON (Aug. 5, 2011) – Charges have been filed against the driver who, police say, caused a fiery crash that killed a women early Thursday morning.
It happened around 3 a.m. on the W. Sam Houston Parkway feeder near Harwin.
Jonathan Lacier Davis, 22, is charged with intoxication manslaughter.
Police say Davis was speeding southbound on the feeder road when he ran a red light at Harwin and struck a red Honda Civic….MORE

From Click2Houston
HOUSTON — A Houston police officer has found himself on the other side of the law. Houston police Officer Jarrod Johnson, 33, has been charged with driving while intoxicated.
Johnson was off duty when he was arrested along Interstate 45…..MORE

HOUSTON (KTRK) — An alleged drunk driver who police say took his mother’s car without permission and fatally struck a homeless man has been arrested and charged in connection with the victim’s death.
 Carlton Jay Eberle is charged with accident involving injury as well as driving while intoxicated. Police say a homeless man had just left a local bar and was crossing the street in the 1700 block of State Highway 6 about 11:20pm on Wednesday when he was struck by a red Mitsubishi Outlander, driven by Eberle, southbound on Highway 6. Eberle fled the scene on foot and was later taken into custody by HPD Westside Patrol Division officers in a nearby neighborhood …..MORE

 Houston, Tx
(Jan. 28, 2011)  – District Attorney Patricia Lykos announced Friday that the No Refusal Program, which obtained 489 warrants for mandatory blood draws from intoxicated drivers last year, will deploy during the Feb. 4-6 Super Bowl weekend to help keep Harris County residents safe from the lethal threats of DWI motorists.
The alert follows 4 fatal crashes in December that led to criminal charges against intoxicated drivers.
Risks of DWI motorists typically rise during pre-Super Bowl festivities and the viewing of the game itself at private parties, sports bars or other drinking establishments.
“As with all special occasions, enjoy the fun, but be smart and make sensible choices,” said Catherine Evans, Chief of the Vehicular Crimes Section of the District Attorney’s Office. “Designate a driver or use a cab or make other plans. But don’t decide to try to drive drunk.”
That wrong decision was made by 13,324 Harris County drivers charged with DWI in all of 2010.
It was a slight decrease of 464 from the total DWI-related charges filed the prior year.
In December, county-wide law enforcement support for the No Refusal Program was reflected in the 17 police agencies that obtained a total of 110 warrants for mandatory blood draws. Agencies included the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, Texas Department of Public Safety and County Constable’s Precincts 3, 4 and 8.
The Houston Police Department had the highest number of warrants – 52.
Other police departments obtaining No Refusal warrants included Tomball, Pasadena, Webster, La Porte, Friendswood, Bellaire, Deer Park, Humble, Port of Houston and Seabrook.
In the No Refusal program, prosecutors and support staff of the District Attorney’s Office work with police officers.
They can obtain the warrants requiring blood testing for DWI suspects who refuse to provide breath samples for testing levels of intoxication.