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Sunday, September 5, 2010 | Serving Del Rio and Val Verde County: Since 1929
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Off-duty officer wrecks truck
Published October 26, 2009
A blood test will determine if an off-duty police officer was drunk when he wrecked his truck early Sunday, says the Texas Department of Public Safety trooper who investigated the crash.
DPS Trooper II Marcos Hernandez today said he obtained a blood sample from off-duty Del Rio Police Department Officer Fernando Zavala after the accident, which occurred about 4 a.m. Sunday on U.S. Highway 90.
“The sample will go to the DPS crime lab in McAllen, and once I get the results, if the blood alcohol level is above .08, I am going to file charges for DWI (driving while intoxicated),” Hernandez told the Del Rio News-Herald in a telephone interview.
Hernandez said his investigation of the single-vehicle accident showed that Zavala's white 2007 Ford F150 pickup truck was traveling east on U.S. Highway 90 when it went off the south side of highway.
Hernandez said the truck then veered back onto the roadway, crossed both lanes of the highway and went into the grassy median dividing the east and westbound lanes. Hernandez said Zavala overcorrected, and the truck careened into a gate at the entrance to the former Capitol Truck parking lot.
The pickup then spun into a deep ditch and rolled onto its left side, Hernandez said.
Zavala, the sole occupant of the truck at the time of the accident, was pinned inside, and Hernandez said firefighters used the Jaws of Life tool to peel back the roof of the truck and extract Zavala.
Hernandez said Zavala was transported to Val Verde Regional Medical Center by ambulance.
Hernandez said he went to the hospital to interview Zavala once he had finished his investigation at the scene of the accident.
Hernandez said Zavala said he did not remember the accident or the circumstances leading up to it.
Zavala said he was coming from a cousin's house on Gutierrez Street in Del Rio and traveling to his parents' home in Val Verde Park Estates when the accident occurred, Hernandez said.
The trooper also noted he asked Zavala if he had been drinking, and Zavala said he had been.
“Thank God he didn't get hurt and thank God he didn't hurt anybody,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez said it will take about two to three weeks to get the results of the blood test.
DRPD Capt. Mark Crosby today said, “This is considered a motor vehicle accident until any charges may be filed, but right now it is considered a motor vehicle accident.”
He said Zavala's duties will remain the same as they were before the accident occurred.
Crosby also said it is standard procedure for the DRPD to call in a different agency to investigate an accident with possible injuries involving one of its officers.
Crosby said Zavala, a 1996 graduate of Del Rio High School who served eight years with the U.S. Marine Corps, has been a member of the police department since April 2008. Zavala was the honors graduate in the DRPD Academy Class of 2008.
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