Newly released video shows the moment a good Samaritan ran after a fleeing drunken driver who fatally hit a Texas detective, pinning him down while yelling, "You killed somebody!"
The footage sheds new light on the Nov. 27, 2021, crash that killed Euless Police Department Detective Alejandro “Alex” Cervantes.
In the accident, Dylan Molina, then 26, was driving a Jeep Wrangler with a blood alcohol concentration twice the legal limit, according to the Lake Worth Police Department, which investigated the crash.
He ran a red light and struck a Chevy Impala in the 4200 block of Boat Club Road. Cervantes was behind the wheel of the Chevy with his wife and two young children inside, police said.
Cervantes was pronounced dead at the scene and his wife was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, authorities said. His two children had serious injuries.
The new video released by Lake Worth police shows the moment Molina is standing beside the wreckage of his car, seen with his hands over his head.
He suddenly turns around and starts to run away from the crash site when a man in a gray shirt chases him.
Molina fell as he made his getaway and the bystander caught up with him and pinned him to the ground.
"Think you're going to f------ leave? You f------ killed someone," the bystander yells at Molina. "You killed somebody! You stay right there."
Molina was arrested and charged with intoxication manslaughter and three counts of intoxication assault.
On Jan. 30, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 15 years in prison in Cervantes’ death, 10 years for the injuries inflicted on Cervantes’ wife and children, as well as six months for a previously unknown DWI, all to be served concurrently, officials said.
After the sentencing, Cervantes’ 13-year-old son, Joshua, spoke to Molina before the court.
“You affected my life pretty bad because I no longer have a dad to go home to,” he said, according to a release by the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney. “It hurts because my dad won’t be there for me when I graduate college or get married.”
Cervantes’ wife, Priscilla, told Molina in the courtroom: “I lost my best friend and the love of my life, the person I was supposed to grow old with.”
She added: “I hope every day behind bars is pure agony for you. I will never forgive you for as long as I live.”
The case didn't end with the sentencing of Molina.
Earlier this month, a bartender accused of overserving Molina ahead of the crash, Cala Richardson, 26, was charged with one count of sale to certain persons.
“During the investigation, detectives obtained evidence indicating the suspect was overserved by Richardson, who at the time was a bartender at Fuzzy’s Taco Shop in Lake Worth. Additional evidence indicated Richardson’s [Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code] server’s license was expired at the time she served the suspect,” Lake Worth police said.
Police noted that Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code prohibits the sale of alcohol to a person who is intoxicated.
Richardson turned herself in at the Parker County Sheriff’s Office on Feb. 3 and was released after posting $1,000 bond.
Molina was served eight double vodka Red Bull mixed drinks by Richardson at Fuzzy’s Taco Shop in Lake Worth in less than three hours, according to her arrest warrant.
A review of camera footage showed Richardson downed his eighth and final drink at 1:12 p.m. local time, got into his car at 1:30 p.m. and crashed into Cervantes' car at 1:33 p.m.
Footage from the establishment shows Molina exiting a door behind the bar of the restaurant and Richardson corrals him out of the area back to the bar stools. He is seen with a drink in hand and stumbling and struggling to stand up straight. Seconds later, he leaves that drink on the bar and leaves the restaurant.
Richardson spoke with investigators accompanied by her lawyer Jan. 18. She said she had not noticed any indicator of intoxication until the minutes prior to Molina leaving the bar when he walked through the employee-only area of the bar, according to the arrest warrant.
NBC News has reached out to her attorney for comment.
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