Matthew Tovar was sentenced to seven years probation and a $2,000 fine after he entered his plea before Judge District Judge M.E. “Mike” Welborn on Nov. 13.
According to reports, Deputy Cecil Daniels was called out to U.S. Highway 181 because of a reckless driver coming toward Beeville from Skidmore.
“Dispatch advised the vehicle was weaving from lane to lane, running vehicles off the roadway, and driving in the ditch,” according to law enforcement reports.
The deputy found the car and attempted to stop it.
When that didn’t work, Texas Ranger James Bennett joined the pursuit.
The two continued after the car going from just south of Ridgeway Lane until it stopped at the Emily Drive exit.
Both Daniels and Bennett had their weapons drawn as they called for the driver to step from his car.
“I asked Tovar why he did not stop,” Daniels wrote in his report. “Tovar stated in a slurred, lethargic speech, he was looking for an exit.”
Daniels said that he searched the Nissan Armada that Tovar was driving and found a synthetic marijuana with the brand name Amsterdam Attic in the center console.
Included in the case file was a letter written to Tovar’s mother.
“The purpose of this letter is to advise you that should the above referenced vehicle (or any other vehicle you now own or own in the future) be seized by a law enforcement agency from your son for a narcotics offense in violation of state or federal law, or any other violation in which a seizure is authorized, the court may order that vehicle be forfeited to a law enforcement agency and that you lose all interest you had in that vehicle,” according to the letter. “The court could rule that you are no longer an innocent owner because you are on notice that your son has used the above vehicle in violation of narcotics laws and could, in the future, use this same vehicle or other vehicles in violation of narcotics laws or other violation in which seizures are authorized.”
At the time of this conviction, Matthew Tovar was serving time in the Ernestine Glossbrenner prison unit in San Diego, Texas.
He was serving a sentence of 84 months probation, which included time in a substance abuse felony punishment facility.
The offense was deadly conduct – discharging a firearm at a habitation, building or vehicle on Aug. 10, 2008. He had been on deferred adjudication probation, but that was revoked on May 2, 2012, and he was placed on regular probation.
His sentence in Beeville will run concurrently with this prior Nueces County sentence.
Jason Collins is the editor at the Bee-Picayune and can be reached at 358-2550, ext. 121, or at editor@mySouTex.com.
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