Drunk Driving

Diana Quinn: You're Once, Twice, Three Times Convicted (of DWI)

This past weekend was St. Patrick's Day, one of the drink-iest "holidays" of the year. And while we did not drink green beer, we did celebrate with green-ish margaritas because there is no better place to be on St. Patrick's Day than a Tex-Mex joint, just as there is no better place to be on Cinco d ... More >>

Ex-NFLer Scott Turner, Now A State Rep, Wants Tougher Penalities For First-Time DWI Offenders

New Rep. Scott Turner, R-Rockwall, lent a certain amount of star power to a bill Rep. Bill Callegari, R-Katy, continues to push each session: mandatory interlock devices for first-time driving while intoxicated offenders. Turner, who played nine years as a defensive back in the National Football Le ... More >>

Lots of DWI Arrests in Harris County Over the Christmas and New Year's Eve Holiday

People like to get their drink on during the holidays. There are parties and gatherings with family, which oft require drinking just to survive. New Year's Eve is the most drunkiest time of the year! And, honestly, there's nothing wrong with partying so long as you don't drive after you do it. Yet ... More >>

One More Reason Not to Drive Drunk on New Year's Eve

Earlier today, I gave you five not so great reasons to avoid drunk driving this New Year's. They were superficial and unimportant, but they were meant to underscore the fact that driving under the influence is reckless and stupid, particularly on the drunkest night of the year. This doesn't mean you ... More >>

Buried Kid Found Alive in Car Driven By Allegedly Smashed Mother

A Kingwood woman has been arrested after police caught her behind the wheel of a car while allegedly intoxicated on a cornucopia of substances, all while an eight-month-old baby was buried alive under clothing and a skateboard in the back seat of the trash-filled vehicle. Montgomery County Precinct ... More >>

Does Over-Serving at Restaurants Go Under-Investigated?

A few weeks ago, I endured a rather unpleasant dinner at The Rouxpour -- the subject of this week's cafe review -- which had nothing to do with the food itself and everything to do with two very drunk patrons. After being harassed by the two men throughout the evening, I finally retrieved a manager ... More >>

Did You Get Nabbed During DPS's July 4 Crackdown? Join The Crowd

The Texas Department of Public Safety has released the results from its July 4th crackdown on DWI and traffic tickets, and as usual it resulted in a blizzard of paper. DPS troopers made more than 1,200 DWI arrests in a nine-day special enforcement period surrounding the holiday, when stepped-up pat ... More >>

Robert Pemelton: The Smiling-est Damn (Alleged) DWI Mugshot Ever

Robert Pemelton decided to show off in his black Jaguar on a Harlingen street about 1:30 yesterday; unfortunately for him, a cop saw it all and stopped him. Pemelton failed field sobriety tests, but apparently he doesn't feel too bad about -- his mugshots show him all smiles, like he's having the f ... More >>

Adventures in DUI: Jacksonville Jags WR Justin Blackmon (w/ Mugshot!)

While the new NFL collective bargaining agreement has brought rookie salaries, particularly first round rookie salaries, more in line with their true value, there is no denying that NFL teams are still investing significant chunks of change in a bunch of unproven commodities. Along those lines, it's ... More >>

MADD Says 85 Percent of Texas Parents Say Their Kids "Are Not Interested in Drinking"

Texas parents are a deluded group, if a new survey for Mothers Against Drunk Driving is any indication. The survey says 85 percent of Texas parents feel their children "are not interested in drinking." At least some of those 85 percent have kids in high school, one would think. But apparently they ... More >>

Michael Lund: Cop Arrested For DWI After Driving Through Accident Scene

Michael Lund, 27-year vet​A veteran Sugar land police captain was arrested for DWI early this morning after cops say he drove through a blocked-off accident scene. Michael Lund was arrested shortly after midnight near the scene of a large accident at Dairy Ashford and Highway 90A. The Staffo ... More >>

No-Refusal Programs, Increased Anti-DWI Patrols: It Must Be the Fourth of July Weekend

HPDDon't be this guy.​Just about every government jurisdiction with a pulse is putting out reminders that they are going to be looking hard for DWI cases this coming long weekend. The state Department of Public Safety is upping patrols in areas where there have been alcohol-related crashes; H ... More >>

Conroe Man Gets 99 Years for 16th DWI

Bottle blond, literally.​When a person gets a DWI, most assume it serves as a lesson that perhaps he should not drink and drive. A second DWI might suggest this person should consider counseling for an alcohol addiction. But, when a man gets 16 DWIs, that man goes to prison. Such is the case ... More >>

Tonight Is No-Refusal Night: Behind The Scenes of a DWI

Tonight is no-refusal night.​Happy Friday! It's the joyous start to the weekend, that grateful lapse between the freshly dead work week and the one that looms next. It's also the kickoff to no-refusal weekend, HPD's drunk driving initiatve. If you're pulled over on suspicion of being drunk and ... More >>

Miguel Cabrera's DUI Handbook

Miguel Cabrera lights up a mugshot like Tom DeLay​One of the businesses I speak for on my radio show is longtime Texas DWI defense attorney Gary Trichter. Among the talking points that I continually hammer home for listeners is the fact that Gary Trichter co-authored the textbook for DWI defen ... More >>

HPD with New Anti-DWI Initiative: You've Been Warned

HPDAnother anti-DWI crackdown is under way​Law enforcement agencies like the DA's office always like to tout new anti-DWI drives, usually tied to a holiday. The Houston Police Department got in on the game today, holding a press conference with MADD to let the public know they'll be cracking ... More >>

DWI Crackdown Begins -- With Arrests Of Two Galveston County Law-Enforcement Officers

Prosecutor and sheriff's deputy arrested​Police departments, sheriff's offices and district attorneys have been loudly getting the word out about DWI crackdowns at the end of the year. Maybe some of their employees should have paid attention. Fox 26 reports that two law-enforcement officials ... More >>

Mario Elie, Former Rocket, Still Part-Time Houstonian, Busted For Drunk Driving

Mario Elie, celebrating​Mario Elie, the popular former Houston Rocket who's married to KTRK news anchor Gina Gaston, got busted early this morning for suspicion of drunk driving, the Associated Press reports. Elie, now an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings, was picked up in downtown Sac ... More >>

Worse Week? The Texans Or This Dude Who Got THREE DWI's

There are bad weeks and really bad weeks​As part of my radio job, I speak for a handful of sponsors. When identifying products or services for me to endorse, the sales staff at our station starts with the question "Is this something Sean would use?" Naturally, my suite of endorsees is heavy ... More >>

DWI: Getting Away With It Is Getting Tougher In Harris County

Blood tests for drunk drivers will be the norm now that Harris County got a fat chunk of federal cash. ​Drinking and driving is serious business in Harris County, and to prove it, the District Attorney's office held a press conference this morning to promote some changes they've made. "A lot of dr ... More >>

One Toke Of K2 Over The Line: Real High From Fake Weed Lands Bryan Man In Jail

Not in Bryan​An unidentified 24-year-old Bryan man faces Class B misdemeanor DWI charges after allegedly admitting to police that he smoked K2, a marijuana-like substance sold legally in Houston stores as incense.According to the Bryan-College Station Eagle, a Brazos County sheriff's deputy spotte ... More >>

No Refusal DWI Crackdowns: Every Weekend For The Next Three Years

Because you're mine, you walk the line​Every holiday weekend, it seems, the Harris County District Attorney's office puts out a release touting a "No Refusal Weekend," where law-enforcement sets up locations targeting drunk drivers.Normally, DWI suspects who refuse to take a Breathalyzer (as attor ... More >>

Rio Grande Mud: Cops, Mayors and Judges Busted For Corruption, DWI And Whoring All Over Valley

Froget it, Jake. It's just the Valley​On moving to Miami during that city's Cocaine Cowboy heyday, a friend once described the place thusly: "You are nobody here until you are under indictment."As the frontline for the drug war has shifted from Colombia and South Florida to Mexico and South Texas, ... More >>

Summertime Blues: MADD And Cops Gather To Threaten Drunk Drivers

Photo by John Nova LomaxHave props, will travel​In what is now a time-honored pre-Labor Day Weekend/dog days of summer ritual, police and members of several anti-drunk driving advocacy groups gathered yesterday to stress what they claim is a multitude of alternative modes of transport for nocturn ... More >>

DWI: They're Coming For You This Weekend By Land And By Sea

Photo by meltedplastic​As you make your long-weekend plans, one thing to keep in mind: Harris County is having another one of those "No Refusal" campaigns designed to nab drunk drivers...and drunk boaters."If you plan to be driving a motor vehicle or at the helm of a boat, we ask that you act sens ... More >>

Ted Poe Decides He Likes Drunk Drivers After All

​Congressman Ted Poe was, for a long time, a Harris County district judge. And he displayed special venom for people convicted of DWI.Once he went to Washington things didn't change. Here's part of a floor speech he gave two years ago about a police chief killed by a drunken driver: He took th ... More >>

Your DWI Arrest Shall Be Tweeted About

​Do you like to be tweeted about? Do you like driving drunk? If you answered "yes" (or just gave a drunken head-nod) to both, then you're in for a treat: Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon is tweeting the names of folks charged with DWI this holiday season."The number one crime -- mos ... More >>

Business Is Booming In The DWI-Arrest Industry

​It might not be as helpful as a huge increase in retail sales, but the Harris County DA's office is reporting a big spike in DWI arrests last weekend. (We guess it could be considered "helpful" if you were driving on the same road as some of those arrested.)The second weekend of the joint "No Ref ... More >>

Jail, Coffee, Drunk Driving and Insidious Racism?

Houston Press readers weigh in.

Widow Of Drunk Driver Denied Insurance Benefits, Sues

​Everyone knows that drinking and driving is a recipe for disaster. But if you're injured while driving drunk, does that mean your injuries are intentionally self-inflicted?It does if you ask the global insurance giant Cigna, according to a recent lawsuit filed in Houston federal court.Deborah ... More >>

Warning: It's A No-Refusal DWI Weekend In Harris County

​Be warned if you plan on using some blessed liquor to get you through the horror of your in-laws this Thanksgiving -- Harris County is making this a "no-refusal" weekend when it comes to DWIs.The District Attorney's office has announced they'll be setting up the usual mobile labs, compete with nu ... More >>

MasterMind Awards

The Houston Press will once again recognize outstanding local artists.

Getting Off

Attorney Tyler Flood says he wins 80 percent of his clients' DWI trials, even if they were 100 percent drunk as a skunk.

The Halloween Drunk Tank

Photos by Mike Giglio​Beneath an almost full moon on Halloween night the (probably) drunk man tried to follow the tip of the officer's pen with his eyes. Behind him a parade of costumed yuppies shuffled between Washington Avenue's trendy bars: sexy school girls, sexy devils, mobsters, Facebook. ... More >>

Sobriety-Checkpoint Bill Advances; Some Legislators Should Start Worrying

Photo by Jason PrattThe American Beverage Institute is still keeping up its noble fight to stop the Texas legislature from passing a bill that would allow sobriety checkpoints on the roads.SB298 has been passed by the Senate and now goes to the House."By calling for sobriety checkpoints, this propos ... More >>

Coming To The Defense Of The Harassed Light Drinker

Photo by mashgetIn times like these, when police are cracking down on drunk drivers everywhere, who is willing to stand up and defend the impaired motorist?The American Beverage Institute, that's who. They have gone on the record today opposing bills in the Texas legislature that call for breathalyz ... More >>

Refusing To Blow In The Breathalyzer May Not Save You This Weekend

Teacher Of The Year And Hero To Drunk Drivers

Drunk Drivers: Here's The Person Who's Giving You Hope

Three Things To Remember During A DWI Crackdown

MADD Reneges On Offer To Get Us Drunk

Yet Another Longhorn Player Arrested. No, Not Tyrell Gatewood. That's Old News. This Time It's Peter Gardere.

After Oprah

Ted Poe got the spotlight for a shame-based sentencing -- the victim says it was a sham

Driving Miss D.A.-isy

A ride-along girlfriend and erroneous testimony taint a DWI squad case

Votes 'n' Bail

GOP consultant Allen Blakemore looks to become a do-it-yourself bondsman

Hotze's Blue Angels

Not-so-divine DWI help arrives for a conservative kingmaker

Great moments courtesy of Ted Poe

News of the Weird

Rudy T's Spin Move

Rudy T Drives the Lane

In Clutch City, nothing's too good for our champions