Hit-and-run caught on video in Katy area, driver charged with felony
FULSHEAR (FOX 26) - A couple reports a possible drunk driver on the Katy Freeway, witnesses and records video of the driver causing a wreck, and then goes above and beyond what most would do, when became a hit-and-run situation.
"She was just weaving from lane to lane," Vanessa Gonzalez said, showing Fox26 the video she recorded June 24th at about 7:20 p.m.
Gonzalez was the front seat passenger in the vehicle being driven by her fiancé that Friday evening. She had reported the driver to 9-1-1, but within minutes, the damage was done. That driver hit another car from behind, and 2 cars spun out on the highway.
"It just happened so quickly," Gonzalez says. "Pieces were flying from her vehicle back towards us. And then it became 'Oh, no! They're hurt!' because we saw the woman go straight into her dashboard."
When the driver that apparently caused the wreck kept going, Gonzalez's fiancé decided to follow her. They followed her for a long time, from I-10 at Dairy Ashford where the wreck took place, to South on the Grand Parkway, to West on 1093 towards Fulshear. Gonzalez says they were on the phone with 9-1-1 the whole time.
"We're on the phone still hearing, 'What's your location now? What's your location now?'" she says. "Well, we drive for another 30 minutes and nobody ever shows up."
When the driver finally stopped at a traffic light, they pulled along side and shouted out the window to her.
"Hey! You know you hit some people right? Slow down!" you can here on video. But Gonzalez says the woman simply said "No I didn't" and drove off.
The couple kept following the driver all the way to Weston Lakes, a wealthy, gated community in Fort Bend County. The police finally showed up, but, according to Gonzalez, because of jurisdictional issues, they're told over the phone they couldn't sobriety test the driver. Hours later when she was tested by Harris County Precinct 5 deputies, the driver was sober.
Gonzalez is frustrated.
"She was obviously drunk. We have her on video," Gonzalez says.
Gonzalez tells Fox26 the first officer responding at Weston Lakes smelled alcohol on the woman. She also says the driver admitted to having as many as three margaritas.
The driver of the vehicle, now identified as 24-year-old Shelby Brown of Fort Bend County, is charged with Failure to Stop and Render Aid which is a 2nd degree felony.
Gonzalez fears that could be just a slap on the hand, but police told her it's only because of them that she's charge with anything at all.
Apparently the woman injured in the wreck didn't remember how it happened, and told police she must have been at fault.
"I still wouldn't change anything. I'm glad that we did that," Gonzalez says. "That woman was very badly injured, so she deserves to know that, first of all, it wasn't her fault, and that there is somebody that needs to be held accountable."