Accident & Injury Law in Texas

Archive for the ‘DUI’ Category

Robert Benn, who had just flown into Austin after the birth of his third grandchild, was heading from the airport to his hotel about 10 p.m. Monday when police said he neared Airport Boulevard and Bolm Road in East Austin.

Just then, investigators said, a motorist in a Lincoln Navigator suspected of drunken driving began fleeing an Austin police officer and sped through the intersection, slamming into Benn, who had a green light.

Benn, a 64-year-old business analyst,died at the scene.

Austin police said charges are pending against the driver, whose name has not been released. He was taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge with minor injuries.

Authorities said a preliminary investigation shows that an officer saw the Navigator near East Seventh Street and North Pleasant Valley Road and suspected the driver was drunk. The officer began, following the SUV, which continued to violate other traffic laws, officials said. The officer then activated his lights and tried to pull the driver over.

Police said that the driver did not stop and instead drove about 20 mph on several streets. He then turned east onto Bolm Road, gunned the engine and sped toward Airport Boulevard before running the red light.

Authorities said the pursuing officer appeared to have acted according to policy.  Austin police policy requires officers to consider the offense, the amount of traffic and, whether they know the identity of the offender before a pursuit. Once officers initiate a chase, they are required to broadcast to other officers the reason of the pursuit, the location, the direction of travel and a description of the car.

David Michael Torbi, who goes by David Scott on the newscasts for KXAN was arrested on Friday evening for misdemeanor driving while intoxicated.  His car was found in a drainage ditch near the 500 block of Lakeway Drive and when the police found him, he smelled of alcohol and was cursing and uncooperative.  They also found a mixed drink in an open container and Torbi admitted to drinking too much but refused a field sobriety test.  KXAN refused to comment.

Former Texas House Speaker Gibson Lewis, 72, was arrested last Thursday night on charges of drunken driving, Austin police said.

Lewis was driving west on Fourth Street, at the intersection with Lavaca Street, in the turn-only lane about 11 p.m. when a mounted officer saw him continue straight on Fourth Street instead of turning, an arrest affidavit said.

The officer then stopped Lewis and called for backup, the affidavit said.  Lewis had a blood-alcohol level of 0.16, Austin police said.

Lewis was elected speaker of the House five times and was active in the Legislature for more than 20 years, retiring in 1993 after pleading no contest in 1992 to tow misdemeanor charges alleging he failed to report some stock holdings on hi 1988 and 1989 disclosure statements.

A New Braunfels man was arrested Sunday in connection with what police say is his fourth charge of driving while intoxicated, according to an arrest affidavit.

Austin police say a witness reported a gold pickup on northbound Interstate 35 swerving between lanes and cutting off other drivers.  According to the affidavit, officers saw the truck nearly hit a car and a motorcycle.

Edward Amaro, 43, was arrested after he failed a field sobriety test, according to the affidavit.  He was in the Travis County jail on Tuesday with bail set at $12,000.

Investigators suspect alcohol was a factor in an overnight head-on collision between a car and an SAUV on the Dallas North Tollway late Monday.

Investigators say 28-year-old Jenny Hall of Dallas was driving the SUV north in the southbound lanes for four miles before it slammed into the car.

Hall and the driver of the car, Carl Thomas Lotspeich of Addison, were killed, a medical examiner’s office said.

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Police arrested an Austin woman and charged her with driving while intoxicated after she was seen driving a Ford Explorer which was in flames on Interstate 35 early Saturday, according to an arrest affidavit.

An officer stopped Kelsi Hatch, 25, as she drove south in the 800 block if I-35.  Hatch has two previous DWI convictions in Travis County and was charged after taking a field sobriety test.

Wesley Ray Marek, arrested August 11th, 2006, after a Round Rock officer stopped him over a possible traffic violation on Sam Bass Road, was sentenced in Williamson County recently to 25 years in prison after his 10th conviction on driving while intoxicated charges.

The officer found that Marek was wanted in Brown County, almost 100 miles west of Waco, on a probation violation and was driving with a suspended license.

Because he had been convicted of three or more driving while intoxicated charges, the most recent charge was a third-degree felony.  In addition, because he had been sentenced to prison at least two previous times, the charge was enhanced to a first-degree felony, punishable by 25 to 99 years or life in prison.

Austin police released an annual ranking of bars where motorists who were stopped on suspicion of drunken driving reported having their most recent drinks.

Several bars in downtown topped the list including Rain, Oilcan Harry’s, and The Ranch.  Police are using the list to help target enforcement efforts.

The rankings are based on information drivers gave officers after they were arrested.

State District Judge Elizabeth Berry was booked into the Johnson County Jail on Saturday, November 8th on a probable cause warrant by Alvarado police after being arrested on Interstate 35W south of Fort Worth on suspicion of drunken driving.

Over the summer, Berry presided over the trial of Samuel Lee Hilburn, who was convicted of intoxicated manslaughter and sentenced to 13 years in prison for the 2006 death of Fort Worth police officer Dwayne Freeto.

A Taylor man, Anthony Lynn Falco, was sentenced to 60 years in prison Wednesday for his 10th driving while intoxicated conviction.

Mr. Falco was pulled over in June and told police that he had been drinking beer at a Round Rock bar, failed field sobriety tests but refused to give a breath sample. After a blood search warrant was obtained, the sample showed he had more than two times the legal limit of alcohol in his blood.

Mr. Falco pleaded guilty to felony DWI in January and waived his right to a jury trial. District Judge Burt Carnes then sentenced him to 60 years in prison making him eligible for parole in 15 years.

According to Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley, Mr. Falco had nine previous DWI convictions starting in 1979. He served time for the last three.

Mr. Bradley said that convicted DWI offenders like Falco should have to give a breath or blood sample and urged state legislators to pass such a law.