Early tests peg driver as drunk
Web Posted: 10/18/2005 12:00 AM CDT
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/met...p.dbd0696.html
San Antonio Express-News
SAN ANTONIO
Early tests peg driver as drunk
Preliminary toxicology tests revealed that a man whose vehicle rear-ended a police officer's patrol car Friday, killing both drivers, had a blood alcohol level of more than twice the legal limit, officials said Monday.
Ismael Herrera, 22, had a blood alcohol concentration of .189, according to the Bexar County medical examiner's office. The legal limit is .08.
Herrera was driving a Chevrolet Caprice at high speeds when the vehicle crashed into the patrol car of Officer John Wheeler, which was parked on the left shoulder of Northwest Loop 410 near Culebra Road around 1:50 a.m. Friday. The officer was tracking speeders, according to police.
Both vehicles burst into flames. Neither Wheeler, a 12-year veteran of the force, nor Herrera made it out of their cars, police said.
I agree it wasn’t a premeditated crime. But James, you speak as if those are the only two mutually exclusive choices; accident and premeditated crime. The law in Texas doesn’t see it so black and white. There are murders that are accidents that aren’t crimes (in Texas you can kill someone to stop a robbery or rape that’s imminent or in progress). You can also have accidents that are crimes. And Texas Law allows for that. Again, this guy would have been charged with Intoxication Manslaughter...had he survived.
I have seen the local coverage and the reports about the case, it fit the profile for a drunk driver. Young, around the time the bars close here, speed, and apparently a lifestyle that was 'fast and loose.'
Texas isn’t NJ, or an area that really takes DD seriously. Drunk Driving isn’t a big deal here. It should be, but isn’t. In NY, you get caught, they take your vehicle. In Texas often you get a 'go on home and sleep it off.' I've seen it.
Hell, I've gotten it. I've had friends who've moved here from the mid west and actually plan at the beginning of the night for a DD and backup DD. We just got an open container law here
last year. When asked about the open container law, we all shrug our shoulders and say, "its a new law. It will take a decade before any one takes it seriously." Its just a part of the culture down here. Its no wonder that Texas has one of the highest number of DD fatalities in the US. (I just saw the stat.. I'll see if I can find it...)
I am not one who now or has ever jumped on the bandwagon looking to blame something for the harshness of the universe. I don’t grab my torch and gather with the villagers every time some pretty blond white woman goes missing. I believe in the chaos theory of the universe and accept that the place is just phucked up. Sometimes a late night accident is just a late night accident.
But I've seen this too many times here to ignore the CLUES. I live here. I saw the coverage. This was no simple accident. Now the toxicology reports back up what I said.