SAPD call taker charged with DWI after vehicle nearly collides with highway median

Lee Martinez Jr., 27, will continue working until misdemeanor case is adjudicated

Lee Martinez Jr. was charged with driving while intoxicated, records show. (Justin Sullivan, Bexar County Jail/2006 Getty Images)

SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio man who answers emergency phone calls for a living was arrested early Monday after police said he was driving while intoxicated.

Lee Martinez Jr., 27, was taken into custody by San Antonio police after an officer witnessed Martinez’s vehicle drifting between lanes in the 10500 block of Interstate 10 West, just before 1 a.m.

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Martinez’s Ford Expedition at one point drifted onto the shoulder of the highway, “nearly making impact with the concrete median as he abruptly applied his brakes,” a blood draw warrant states.

Martinez failed a subsequent field sobriety test, at one point using the wrong hand to touch his index finger to his nose, the warrant states.

The suspect told the arresting officer he had a “Bud Light... vodka sour,” according to the warrant.

Martinez refused to give police a sample of his breath, forcing SAPD to get a warrant for a sample of his blood.

Martinez has worked as an SAPD call taker since September 2018, city records show.

An SAPD spokesman said via email Tuesday that Martinez will remain working until his DWI case is adjudicated.

Martinez is scheduled to be arraigned in County Court 15 on Nov. 30.

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About the Author:

Emmy-award winning reporter Dillon Collier joined KSAT Investigates in September 2016. Dillon's investigative stories air weeknights on the Nightbeat and on the Six O'Clock News. Dillon is a two-time Houston Press Club Journalist of the Year and a Texas Associated Press Broadcasters Reporter of the Year.