Thread: Man gets 15 years for fatal flea market wreck

Man gets 15 years for fatal flea market wreck

By Craig Kapitan
ckapitan@express-news.net
Updated 02:11 a.m., Friday, April 1, 2011

Drunk and rushing to get a good vendor spot at a flea market, Humberto Muñoz-Gonzalez paid no mind as he felt a thump underneath his truck before sunrise one morning in December 2009.

But he hadn't run over a trash can as he initially thought.

Raul Reyes, 63, a longtime maintenance employee at the Mission Flea Market, had been dragged about 80 feet, prosecutors said Thursday as Muñoz-Gonzalez was sentenced to 15 years in prison for intoxication manslaughter.

Muñoz-Gonzalez, 45, a Mexican citizen, lived in Austin but loaded up his truck with miscellaneous items and came to the San Antonio flea market about twice a month to make some extra money. He was already on probation for driving while intoxicated in a Travis County case.

It's common for vendors to spend the night outside the market waiting for a good spot, said defense attorney Humberto Saldaña.

“And I guess a lot of them start drinking,â€

Muñoz-Gonzalez told police he had only two drinks the night before. But witnesses at the flea market said he smelled of alcohol, was stumbling, shoeless and had slurred speech. Police found an empty bottle of MD 20/20 wine in the front seat of his vehicle and a blood test later showed a blood alcohol level of .14, well over the legal limit.

what is it that when we read stories like this, that the BAL is way over the legal limit of .08

Police found an empty bottle of MD 20/20 wine in the front seat of his vehicle and a blood test later showed a blood alcohol level of .14, well over the legal limit.

Mad Dog 20/20 (really it's Mogen-David) ONE drink is enough to get your BAL to the legal limit!