Dallas, TX — A father and a husband was hospitalized after being involved in an alleged drunk-driving accident in the Oak Cliff neighborhood in Dallas, Texas, in December of last year.
The Penas were on their way home from their children’s Christmas pageant when their vehicle was hit by a nother being driven by 17-year-old Anthony Sanchez.
Following the collision, Sanchez tried fleeing the scene of the crash and was allegedly drunk at the time. He was restrained by people at the scene until law enforcement could arrive.
Albert Pena spent three days in intensive care following the crash. Austin Pena, Albert’s 7-year-old son, was bruised in the accident. His wife and young daughter were not hurt.
Police initially charged Sanchez with a DUI misdemeanor. That charge has since been upgraded to intoxication assault. However, Sanchez has yet to be taken into custody for any appreciable amount of time.
At this time, it’s unclear what Sanchez’s ultimate punishment will be.
Scene of the Accident
Commentary
Police said that on the night of the accident, Sanchez was drinking (he was 17, by the way) and smoking pot. They said that he had no insurance no driver’s license. When someone isn’t punished for that, what kind of message is that sending? I would say that it’s inviting bad drivers to press their luck, because if this other person didn’t get in trouble, maybe they won’t get in trouble either. But even if we’re not considering how it looks to others, we should worry about how it looks to the driver responsible for this mess. This wasn’t some simple mess-up, this was a big deal. And if someone isn’t shown that there are consequences for their actions, what’s to stop him from doing this again somewhere down the line? And while the Penas were able to walk away from what happened here, there’s no guarantee that the next family will be so lucky.
— Grossman Law Offices
