A Flower Mound police sergeant is on paid administrative leave following a recent arrest for driving while intoxicated with a child under the age of 15 – a state jail felony.
Misty Hughes was arrested shortly after midnight early Sunday by Lewisville police in the 200 block of East Round Grove Road in Lewisville. In the vehicle was a 6-year-old boy believed to be her son, according to an arrest affidavit.
Two Lewisville police officers were on their lunch break at 11:44 p.m. Saturday when they heard a call for a possible intoxicated driver in the vicinity. Dispatchers advised someone had dialed 911 in Denton to reported that a vehicle, a 2014 silver Volkswagen Jetta, was unable to stay within a single lane and had struck a retaining wall in Denton, according to the arrest affidavit.
Dispatchers advised the caller reported the vehicle was traveling southbound on Interstate 35E going approximately 77 miles per hour, according to the affidavit. The caller said the vehicle was drifting into the center lane from the left lane and nearly struck a retaining wall. The vehicle again nearly struck a retaining wall prior to exiting Corporate Drive, the caller told dispatchers, according to the affidavit.
The Lewisville officers decided to leave their lunch break and try to locate the vehicle “due to the level of danger it posed to other motorists,” according to the affidavit.
One of the two officers observed the silver Jetta traveling south in the 2200 block of the S. I-35E southbound frontage road while walking to his squad car. The officer entered the I-35E southbound frontage road and positioned his squad car behind the silver Jetta. He observed the vehicle turn right into the intersection to travel westbound on East Round Grove Road in the left lane. The officer noted the vehicle was having trouble maintaining a straight path, weaving within its lane repeatedly while traveling westbound, according to the affidavit.
Lewisville police officers stopped the vehicle in the 200 block of East Round Grove Road. Upon activating his squad car’s emergency lights, an officer observed the silver Jetta pull to the right across all three lanes and turn right onto Oakbend Drive, coming to a stop in the right lane of traffic approximately 25 feet from an open parking lot.
One officer, who approached the car on the driver’s side, indicated in the affidavit that he observed the driver’s eyes were red and watery, her speech was rapid and slurred and he could smell a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from inside the vehicle. The officer noted a boy was sleeping in the front passenger seat with the seat fully reclined and not wearing a seat belt, according to the affidavit. The officer also saw a child’s booster seat in the back seat.
During the traffic stop, the Lewisville officers indicated the driver asked for professional courtesy and told them she was going through personal problems. Initially, the driver refused to complete sobriety tests until Lewisville police officers explained they would take a blood sample. The driver then agreed to do the sobriety tests which she then did not pass, according to the affidavit.
As the sobriety tests were being completed, the driver asked the Lewisville officer, “You know what sucks?” The officer replied, “What sucks, ma’am?” She replied: “As I watch your pen, I see my life falling apart in front of me. It’s amazing.”
The driver was arrested and taken to the Medical Center of Lewisville where a blood sample was taken before she was transferred to the Lewisville city jail. The vehicle and child were released to the driver’s husband.
The affidavit cited the type of DWI as a combination of drug and alcohol. The driver had indicated to police she was on medication, according to the affidavit. However, the type of medication was removed from the affidavit by the Lewisville city attorney before it was released to media.
Hughes was released from Lewisville city jail on Sunday after posting a $3,500 surety bond, according to Denton County jail bond records.
“Upon learning of the incident, Sgt. Hughes was placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation,” noted Molly Fox, communications and marketing manager with the Town of Flower Mound, in an email.
Hughes, a sergeant in the patrol division, has been employed with the Flower Mound Police Department for 16 years, according to town officials.
The state felony charge can carry a punishment of between 180 days to two years imprisonment in a state jail and a fine not to exceed $10,000, according to the Texas Penal Code.
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