TX Cop Drunk Driving with Children gets taxpayer PAID Leave following arrest in Beaumont

So a cop in southeast Texas gets arrested for being wasted and driving with small children in the back seat. What is his punishment? The Beaumont Police Department gives the guy a paid leave. In other words, the drunk driving cop gets a paid vacation that taxpayers are funding. Doesn't sound like much of a punishment does it? If you are going to pay the guy at least don't completely take send him home. Take his badge and take him off the streets but make him clean toilets or something instead of him getting a paid vacation.

from the Beaumont Enterprise:

A Beaumont police officer is on paid leave after being arrested on a felony charge of driving while intoxicated.

Sgt. Chuck Havard, with the Texas Department of Public Safety, said officer Richard Rovera was stopped by a state trooper June 15 around 7 p.m. at the intersection of Jade Avenue and 60th Street. Rovera had three minors under the age of 15 with him in the vehicle.

The trooper performed a field sobriety test, and Rovera was taken into custody and booked into the Jefferson County Jail.

Havard said the Department of Public Safety was not releasing any additional information about the arrest as of Tuesday.

Beaumont Police Department spokesman Sgt.Rob Flores said his department was contacted about the arrest, and the decision was made to put Rovera on paid administrative leave.

Flores said the department is not issuing any more information about the case until a grand jury makes a determination.

According to Jefferson County Jail records, Rovera was released June 16 after posting a $10,000 bond.

Under the Texas Penal Code, driving while intoxicated with a child passenger is a state jail felony punishable by between 180 day and two years incarceration and a fine not to exceed $10,000.

TMonzingo@BeaumontEnterprise.com

Twitter.com/thmonzingo

Texas Governor Perry Vetoes Funding of Drunk Travis DA Rosemary Lehmberg's Public Integrity Unit

Gov. Perry Line-Item Vetoes in SB 1

Article IV - The Judiciary

Judiciary Section, Comptroller's Department
D.1.4 Strategy: PUBLIC INTEGRITY UNIT, $3,742,829 $3,830,597
TRAVIS CO & UB
Public Integrity Unit, 53rd Judicial District.

Statement from Governor Rick Perry about Line Item Veto of Public Integrity Unit:

Despite the otherwise good work the Public Integrity Unit's employees, I cannot in good conscience support continued State funding for an office with statewide jurisdiction at a time when the person charged with ultimate responsibility of that unit has lost the public's confidence. This unit is in no other way held accountable to state taxpayers, except through the State budgetary process. I therefore object to and disapprove of this appropriation.


related articles:

Travis County D.A. Arrested for Drunk Driving: Another Texas Democrat Arrested

Texas Should Take Public Integrity Unit away from Travis County DA

Perry vows veto of state funding unless Drunk Travis Ethics District Attorney Lehmberg resigns

Perry vows veto of state funding unless Drunk Travis Ethics District Attorney Lehmberg resigns

The Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg is in charge of such things as prosecuting drunk drivers and politicians who commit ethics violations. Well, she has been recently convicted of drunk driver herself and the video of her resisting with the police during arrest is an embarrassment to the State of Texas. The law allows for her to be removed for drunkenness. She refuses to resign so Governor Perry is getting involved...

from the American Statesman: http://pushjunction.com/l/Cp5

Move seeks to force Lehmberg out after after drunken driving conviction

Gov. Rick Perry is vowing to veto funding for the state’s Austin-based ethics-enforcement unit unless Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg resigns, officials confirmed Monday.
Perry has until Sunday to veto bills passed by the Legislature during its regular session that ended in May, including the state budget that contains about $7.5 million to fund the Public Integrity Unit for the next two years.

Travis County D.A. Arrested for Drunk Driving: Another Texas Democrat Arrested

I recently posted up an article about Texas Democrat State Repersentative Naomi Gonzalez getting arrested for drunk driving and crashing into people. What is even worse is that the Texas Legislature Praised this Drunk Driving Democrat after her arrest with a standing ovation and some gave her flowers!

Well now, not long after the arrest of Rep. Gonzalez, The Democrat Travis County District Attorney, Rosemary Lehmberg, has been arrested for drunk driving. She refuses to resign. How about that for Texas Political Corruption. A Texas D.A. who prosecutes Drunk Driving Cases is a drunk driver herself!

That is the problem with Texas though, there is no real punishment for drunk driving. Even if you kill someone, many times you will get a light sentence or NO jail time at all! I remember seing someone in Texas getting a life sentenc for drunk driving, but that was because it was his eighth time! Why was he not punished the first 7 times?

Drunk Driving is a leading killer of people in Texas and in the nation. When will we do something about it?

from Statesman: http://pushjunction.com/l/Cjv

Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, arrested and charged with drunken driving overnight, plans to remain in office and will not resign, according to a spokeswoman.

According to county records, Lehmberg, 63, was arrested by Travis County deputies in Northern Travis County near RM 2222 and FM 620 and booked into the county jail shortly after 2 a.m.

According to an arrest affidavit obtained this morning, a citizen called 911 around 10:45 p.m. Friday, reporting that a motorist was driving a four-door Lexus in the bike lane for at least a mile on southbound FM 620 and that she was weaving in and out of traffic.

At one point, the affidavit said, Lehmberg crossed into oncoming traffic near Comanche Trail.

Texas Legislature Praises Drunk Driving Democrat Who Hurt Innocent Pedestrian

also see: Travis County D.A. Arrested for Drunk Driving: Another Texas Democrat Arrested

Really? FLOWERS? WFAA reports that the Texas House of Representatives gave this drunk driving Democrat State Representative who injured innocent people a standing ovation and some gave her FLOWERS?

They should have given Naomi Gonzalez an orange jumpsuit and said we will see you once you paid the penalty for your crime.

But hey, she said she was sorry, I guess her crime should just be forgiven right? After all, no one dies from drunk drivers right? Drunk Driving is not a serious problem right? It is disgusting that this Democrat State Representative on the ETHICS Committee has been turned into a victim when she is the bad guy who hurt real innocent victims. Hey Joe Straus, you think maybe you should take her off of the ethics committee? If she ran things, everyone would just have to say they are sorry and then they get a prize and have their ethics charges dropped.

She is only sorry she got caught and is facing charges because, well, this is not the first time she has done this. It is just the first time she was caught.

And we wonder why so many innocent people die every day in Texas from Drunk Drivers.... Even if she did kill someone she still would have gotten a slap on the wrist.


from WFAA: http://www.wfaa.com/news/texas-news/El-Paso-lawmaker-deeply-deeply-sorry-for-DWI-arrest-198856081.html

AUSTIN (AP) — A Democratic state lawmaker arrested for drunken driving offered an emotional apology on the floor of the Texas House on Monday, drawing a standing ovation and flowers from her colleagues.
Naomi Gonzalez of El Paso crashed her BMW into another car, which then hit a bicyclist around 2 a.m. Thursday. Gonzalez, the other driver and the cyclist all went to the hospital with minor injuries. The 34-year-old was charged with driving while intoxicated.

Gonzalez sought special permission to address her colleagues and said she did so "with a heavy heart." She explained that the crash occurred as she drove alone to her Austin apartment and, "I want to be clear about this: I made a mistake and I am deeply, deeply sorry for it."

Lawmakers applauded loudly, eventually climbing to their feet. Some gave Gonzalez hugs and high-fives. Flowers were left on her desk in the chamber.

Not everyone deemed the gesture appropriate. The Texas chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving lamented the appearance, saying it made someone charged with drunk driving and injuring others into a victim.

Drunk Driving TX Democrat Rep. Gonzalez Arrested After Injuring Others

also see: Travis County D.A. Arrested for Drunk Driving: Another Texas Democrat Arrested

From KHOU.com:

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Authorities say Democratic state. Rep. Naomi Gonzalez has been arrested on charges of drunk driving.
Austin police spokesman Jermaine Kilgore said the El Paso lawmaker was arrested Thursday after rear-ending another car around 2 a.m. near downtown. He says the other car struck by Gonzalez’s BMW was then pushed into a bicyclist. Kilgore said both Gonzalez and the bicyclist were transported to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Records show Gonzalez remained in Travis County jail Thursday afternoon. Aides at her Capitol office declined to immediately comment.
The 34-year-old Gonzalez was first elected in 2010 and serves on a House ethics committee.

Hooters gets slap on wrist for serving drunk man who Killed innocent woman in Texas drunk driving accident

Hooters in Beaumont, TX got to choose between a $15,000 fine or a 50 day suspension of alcohol license. The mother of the woman killed says that her daughter did not get to choose and while her daughter is dead, Hooters gets to continue selling alcohol. This is why so many innocent people keep getting killed by drunk drivers every day. There is no real punishment. Heck, the guy who killed her only got 8 years. 8 years for a life....

from KBMT 12 News:

BEAUMONT -
A Beaumont restaurant has been cited by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.
The enforcement action against Hooters stems from a fatal drunk driving accident in Beaumont last year.
It was on July 30, 2012 that Derek McBride would go to Hooters on Interstate 10 with three friends.
According to a TABC report obtained by 12 News, they would spend just over 4-and-a-half hours during which McBride was served six 25-ounce beers, a Bloody Mary, a shot of Vodka and a shot of Jack Daniels.
On March 18, the 25-year-old McBride was sentenced to eight years in prison for intoxication manslaughter.
McBride pleaded guilty to driving drunk, and causing the wreck on I-10.
It claimed the life of Amber Roussel of Louisiana, but authorities did not just go after McBride to seek justice, they also launched an investigation into Hooters in Beaumont.
Agents with the TABC learned McBride had been at the restaurant before the fatal wreck.
They demanded to see receipts from the day of the wreck.
At first, the TABC agent did not get all she requested and she issued Hooters a warning for failing to timely provide records.
But eventually TABC had what it needed to sanction Hooters, turns out the agency discovered that waitresses had over served McBride alcoholic beverages.
Here's a timeline from that day involving McBride:
11:05 am - served 1 Coors Light Big Daddy (25oz)
11:38 am - served 1 Coors Light Big Daddy (25oz)
12:22 pm - served 1 Coors Light Big Daddy (25oz)
1:07 pm - served 1 Coors Light Big Daddy (25 oz) AND served Bloody Mary with a shot of Vodka
2:09 pm - served 1 Coors Light Big Daddy (25oz)
2:12 pm - served 1 shot of Jack Daniels
3:45 pm - served 1 Coors Light Big Daddy (25oz)
3:54 pm - reported time of accident by Beaumont police department
Hooters fired two waitresses and the TABC gave the restaurant the option to pay a $15,000 fine, or get its liquor license suspended for 50 days.
Hooters chose the fine.  Amber Roussel's mother, Melba Braud, told 12 News, "Amber was not given a choice, Hooters should not be given a choice either, so they can continue to serve people like Derek McBride."
Braud is suing Hooters, but she said, "It's not about the money, it's to show them this needs to stop."
Braud describes her daughter as amazing.  She says she plans to return to Beaumont on the first anniversary of Amber's death and do a candlelight vigil on I-10 near Pine Street, where the wreck happened.
We have been in contact with a public relations representative for Hooters.  He told us he would have a response for us, but we have not received one yet.

read more here: http://www.12newsnow.com/story/21968136/tabc-cites-hooters-for-overserving-man-who-caused-fatal-wreck