Eagle Staff Report
A Department of Public Safety trainee accused of causing a five-car crash in College Station while drunk was suspended with pay Monday pending an internal investigation, authorities said.
David Wayne Hartley, 24, was charged with intoxicated assault with a vehicle for causing the Saturday night accident in the 1000 block of University Drive. One of the drivers suffered a broken ankle, according to a police report.
The DPS inquiry of Hartley, who was 14 weeks into field officer training and stationed in Grimes County, is standard procedure and will be conducted separate from the criminal investigation, officials said.
A westbound truck Hartley was driving switched lanes quickly and hit another westbound truck, which spun out of control and into the eastbound lanes where it was struck by a vehicle, which then was hit by a fourth vehicle, police said. Hartley's GMC Sierra, meanwhile, rolled over another car, officials said.
Authorities said they smelled alcohol on Hartley's breath, and he couldn't tell officers which way he was traveling, what road he was on or which way the car he hit came from, the report states.
The trainee refused to take a field sobriety test at the scene after an officer said he could smell alcohol on the man, authorities said, adding that hospital officials took blood for testing once he arrived at the facility.
The third-degree felony carries a punishment of up to 10 years in prison and a fine up to $10,000. Hartley was released Sunday afternoon after posting $7,000 bail, according to court records.
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