Mother, 2 children injured after drunken driving crash

A driver has been charged with intoxication assault after police say he collided with another car while drunk on Sunday, injuring a woman and two children, according to an arrest affidavit.

At 9:22 p.m. Austin police got a call about a car driving westbound on Texas 71 that was speeding and had run a red light at Hamilton Pool Road, the affidavit said.

About a minute later, police got a call about a crash in the same area, near the 18600 block of Texas 71, said the affidavit.

Officers responding to the call found a crash involving a Nissan Maxima, which belonged to the suspect, 26-year-old Ruben Mendez, and a Lexus, which had three passengers, according to the document.

Police were able to look inside Mendez’s car and found two empty packs of 12-ounce beer, “shattered brown glass consistent with a Lonestar beer around the driver’s side area,” and an unopened 24-ounce can of beer in the passenger seat, said the document.

One of the passengers in the Lexus, an 8-year-old, suffered a serious injury in the accident and was taken to a hospital and was later found to have “bruising to his abdomen and a perforated intestine,” which required him to “undergo surgery to remove part of his intestine,” said the affidavit.

The other two victims, a mother and a 4-year-old, were taken to South Austin Hospital, where police asked her what had happened. She said she was driving eastbound on Texas 71 when she saw Mendez’s car fishtailing and facing southbound in the eastbound lane, read the document. The victim told police that she tried to avoid the crash but was unable to, said the affidavit.

The victim described Mendez to police as having “a white shirt and goatee and blood all over his face,” said the affidavit.

Police made contact with Mendez, who was also taken to South Austin Hospital, and were able to smell alcohol coming from his breath and his speech was slurred, according to the affidavit.

Tags:

What Our Clients Say

I would recommend The Traub Law Office first and foremost to any person with a Personal Injury case. I was told by two Personal Injury lawyers prior to Andrew that I should just drop my case because I would never win against American Access Causality because my case wasn't cut and dry. We've all heard of the ability to turn "water into wine" associated with Jesus and I'm not equating Andrew Traub to Jesus but my case against American Access Causality was a hard lead to nowhere because of outdated Texas Law and Andrew made a way for my dead-end case, turning nothing into something or a settlement. Andrew was professional, patient, and worked tirelessly to help me. Both he and his staff are dedicated to being the people in your corner when its you versus the law.

5/ 5
Vanessa B - google

Contact Us

Contact Us
First
Last
Enter Email
Confirm Email
Please let us know what's on your mind. Have a question for us? Ask away.

Some of our Awards

austin accident lawyer awardsSuper LawyersTop One PercentLawyers of DistinctionMillion Dollar Advocates ForumNational Trial Lawyers Top 100Avvo 10/10 ratingTop 100 Verdict

Address

8701 Shoal Creek Boulevard, Suite 401, Austin, TX 78757
Get Directions

Hours

Office: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday

Appointments available: All days and hours.

Phones answered 24/7

Contact

5.0 / 5 over 38 reviews

See Reviews

Leave a Review

Connect

Navigation

While most of our clients hail from Austin, Round Rock, Cedar Park, Georgetown, and Pflugerville in Travis and Williamson Counties, we have also worked with clients in Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Other clients have come from Lakeway, Jollyville, Anderson Mill, Kyle, and Leander. If your accident was in Texas, we can help you. The information on this website is for general information purposes only. Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.
Back To Top