Man arrested for DWI had child with him

By MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ
Managing Editor
editor@sbnewspaper.com

Roberto Trejo

A San Benito man was arrested Saturday for driving while intoxicated with his 2-year-old son in the vehicle, police said.

Detective Rogelio Banda Jr. of the San Benito Police Department reported Monday that 26-year-old Roberto Trejo of San Benito was arrested for DWI with a child passenger, a state jail felony punishable by a maximum of two years in prison.

The arrest stemmed from an incident that occurred at approximately 11:57 p.m. Saturday, April 13, near the corner of Helena and Combes Street. There, police observed a “suspicious 2007 gray Ford vehicle with several occupants parked with the engine running…,” Banda stated in a news release.

Banda specified Tuesday that the vehicle was considered suspicious by a person or persons from an area church who called authorities to report its presence in the neighborhood, this due largely to unrest in the area over a robbery that occurred at a nearby convenience store.

“Over the weekend there was a robbery at Matt’s Quick Stop, so the church became nervous of a vehicle passing by which was occupied by several subjects, so they called it in,” Banda said.

According to the detective, the vehicle became mobile when the officer attempted to make contact with the occupants and “began reverse parking in front of a residence on the 100 block of Helena Street.”

“The police officer then noticed that the driver presented signs of impairment due to alcohol consumption,” Banda stated, further noting that the Officer discovered that Trejos’ 2-year-old son was inside the vehicle as well as a number of open containers.

Trejo was placed understand arrest after he failed a standardized field sobriety test administered by the officer and later taken to a Harlingen hospital for a mandatory blood withdrawal. He was then transported to City Jail, where Trejo was arraigned by Municipal Court Judge Ben Yudesis, who set bond at $5,000.

“The 2-year-old son was released to his mother who was also in the vehicle at the time of the stop,” Banda reported.