A tow truck operator suffered serious injuries Feb. 24 after he was struck by a vehicle allegedly driven by an intoxicated man along Highway 21 in Hays County.
Freddy Martinez, 31, of Kyle, was arrested on intoxication assault with a vehicle, as well as accident involving serious bodily injury. Both charges are third-degree felonies.
According to an arrest affidavit, a Texas Highway Patrol trooper was dispatched to investigate a hit-and-run, vehicle versus pedestrian crash on Highway 21 near mile point 539.
According to witnesses, a white pickup truck struck a tow-truck operator, failed to stop and then left the scene. According to the affidavit, the tow truck operator, identified as Jerry Rodriguez, was transported to an Austin-area hospital with serious injuries. The trooper was later informed Rodriguez suffered a broken neck and several spinal injuries as a result of the incident, according to the affidavit. Rodriguez’s current condition is unknown at this time.
Another witness chased the pickup truck until Hays County Sheriff’s Office Deputies stopped the vehicle in a neighborhood. The driver, later identified as Martinez, was then brought to a gas station in Maxwell by Hays County deputies for further questioning.
According to the affidavit, The trooper said Martinez had the “odor of metabolized alcohol emitting from his breath and bloodshot eyes.”
Martinez also allegedly admitted to consuming alcoholic beverages.
Based on signs of intoxication, Martinez was arrested for intoxication assault.
However, Martinez refused to provide a blood specimen, even after the trooper played a recording of state law requiring a blood draw or breathalyzer test, according to the affidavit.
A search warrant was issued to obtain a blood specimen from Martinez, who later refused to have his blood taken at Central Texas Medical Center in San Marcos.
According to the affidavit, two law enforcement officers “physically restrained Martinez” to obtain a blood sample.
According to criminal history records provided to the Hays Free Press, Martinez has twice been convicted for DWI on two separate occasions.
Martinez’s first DWI arrest was in August 2006 in Travis County, of which he was later convicted in May 2007. He was then arrested for DWI in January 2008 in Hays County, and was later convicted in May 2008.
Martinez was booked in to the Hays County Jail Feb. 25 and was released that day on $70,000 bond.
