Driver is released after arrest in deputy recruit crash that sheriff called ‘deliberate act’
A 20-year-old man who had a deputy with him when he crashed his patrol car during a deputy recruit training exercise Wednesday is now facing charges in the second such crash that has occurred in Texas in the past two weeks.
The latest crash occurred about 40 miles from the previous accident on an IH-35 Loop Extension when a traffic stop was underway near the West Bend area.
According to the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office, a man was driving a Dodge Caravan and had an open bottle in the driver’s side passenger seat, a sheriff’s spokesman said.
The 20-year-old deputy had a deputy passenger in his patrol unit when the vehicle rolled to a stop near the intersection of Highway 90 and South Road 10 about 9:50 a.m. Wednesday, the sheriff’s spokesman said. The driver of the vehicle, who was arrested, had not received any type of citation, according to the spokesman, but had already received a driving ticket.
The driver was arrested Wednesday and charged with driving while intoxicated, a Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman told NBC News. He was reportedly also arrested on two previous occasions for driving while intoxicated, the spokeswoman said.
Officials said they believe the driver will face more charges, possibly a third time on some type of driving-while-intoxicated charge.
The sheriff’s spokesman said the department is working to obtain surveillance video from nearby businesses and will review the results of the investigation.
The incident is the second serious crash of a deputy-recruit-vehicle following the Feb. 5 crash that injured two recruits in San Antonio. An officer was injured in that crash and three recruits were taken to the hospital.
Two other deputies from the agency were injured in a crash the day before the San Antonio incident.
A deputy from the agency is now hospitalized and recovering after a “serious” training collision, Williamson County Sheriff Andy Eppers said on Tuesday.
According to the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office
