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AUSTIN (KXAN) — Tyrone Thompson, 23, who police arrested in a deadly hit-and-run crash that happened at 7th and Red River Streets early Tuesday morning, previously faced a DWI charge in 2022 that was ultimately dismissed, according to online Travis County court records.
Police charged him with DWI, among other charges, in Tuesday’s incident.
Those same court records show the DWI was dismissed because “the evidence was insufficient.”
In Texas, a person’s first two DWI’s are misdemeanors unless aggravating factors are involved, such as a child being in the car at the time or someone getting killed or injured. The third DWI then becomes a felony.
Thompson’s 2022 case was classified as a Class B Misdemeanor. KXAN has reached out to the County Attorney’s Office for further detail on the dismissal and will update this story when that occurs. Thompson’s attorney at the time has not gotten back to us either; his attorney for this week’s case said he could not comment.
“A lot of DWI cases are dismissed for a number of reasons, some of the main ones are evidentiary issues, the case cannot be proven,” said Will Hale, a defense attorney with Gergen, Hale and Campbell, who is not affiliated with either of these cases.
According to the arrest affidavit for Thompson’s case that got dismissed, police arrested him as he hit a curb and broke an axle while trying to leave the scene of a physical disturbance in a parking lot. The officer who responded said Thompson was acting erratically, and the officer believed he could be on PCP.
“When somebody is delusional, whether it’s drug-induced or a mental health break, them doing the field sobriety test becomes very difficult,” Hale said. “Because they have to do physical tasks, mental tasks, and they’re not gonna be able to follow that.”
Hale said that can contribute to the difficulties of proving to the courts a person was intoxicated during an act beyond a reasonable doubt.
In the case of the Tuesday hit-and-run Thompson is accused of, he faces charges of Driving While Intoxicated (DWI), resisting arrest search or transport, obstruction or retaliation, unlawful carrying of a weapon and an accident involving death.
“A lot of times that charge is used because it’s easier to prove,” Hale said comparing the charge of accident involving death to the charge of intoxication manslaughter. “All the state has to prove is he was the one that was driving, he caused the death, and he did not stay at the scene.”
KXAN is speaking with a family member of the man who was killed in Tuesday’s crash, Cody Jordon Shelton, later this afternoon. Check back for updates.
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