Starr County Sheriff’s Office investigator charged with driving while intoxicated

The Palmview Police Department charged a Starr County Sheriff’s Office investigator with driving while intoxicated on Sunday.

Palmview police Cpl. Leroy Martinez stopped Jose David Saenz, 33, of Roma — an investigator with the Starr County Sheriff’s Office — for speeding at 4:01 a.m. Sunday.

Saenz was driving about 94 mph in a 65 mph zone and struck three bright orange traffic control barrels.

Jose David Saenz. (Photo courtesy of the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office.)

“Corporal Martinez advised the driver he collided with the traffic barrels,” according to an affidavit filed with the Palmview Municipal Court. “Corporal Martinez reports the driver chuckled and stated, ‘two or three barrels.’”

Saenz said he’d been drinking Dos Equis.

The police corporal asked Saenz to rank himself on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 would be sober and 10 would be intoxicated.

“About four or five,” Saenz said, according to the affidavit.

Saenz agreed to provide breath samples, which showed a blood alcohol concentration of about 0.11. The legal limit is 0.08.

The police corporal arrested Saenz on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, a Class B misdemeanor. If convicted, Saenz faces a maximum of 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine.

Officers transported Saenz to the Hidalgo County jail, where he was booked at 5:40 p.m. Sunday. The jail released Saenz at 7:17 p.m. after he posted a $2,000 personal recognizance bond.

Saenz couldn’t be reached for comment.

Starr County hired Saenz in 2010, according to Texas Commission on Law Enforcement records. A spokesman for the sheriff’s office declined to comment on Saenz’s arrest.