Booster Seat Felony

By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter

HOUSTON COUNTY – A Houston County man found out the hard way the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) isn’t playing around when it comes to child safety in an automobile.

George Conelious Jones, 59, was arrested and charged with two felonies, along with two misdemeanors, on Sunday, July 21 after he wrecked his vehicle near the Berea community.

According to the arrest report, Jones was driving his Toyota Camry on State Highway 7 at approximately 2 pm “… when he crossed over the yellow center stripe toward oncoming traffic, over-corrected to the right and overturned his vehicle.”

While investigating the crash, DPS troopers “… found that Jones was displaying indicators of being intoxicated.”

After performing poorly on parts of the field sobriety test, the affidavit reported Jones was determined to be legally intoxicated.

The legal document went on to say at the time of the crash, Jones had two passengers with him in the vehicle. One of the passengers was a six-year-old child, who was buckled in with a seat belt at the time of the crash, but didn’t have a child booster seat as required by law.

It was also determined Jones did not have a valid driver license and could not produce proof of financial responsibility (insurance).

Jones was charged with driving while intoxicated with a child younger than 15 years of age, a state jail felony and driving while his license was invalid with a previous conviction, as well as no insurance, a Class B misdemeanor.

In addition, the affidavit stated, “Due to the fact that Jones was operating a vehicle and did not have the six-year-old passenger properly restrained in a child booster seat, Jones is being charged with child endangerment with imminent danger of significant bodily injury (a second degree felony).”

According to Section 12.33 of the Texas Penal Code, “An individual adjudged guilty of a felony of the second degree shall be punished by imprisonment in the institutional division for any term of not more than 20 years or less than two years. In addition to imprisonment, an individual adjudged guilty of a felony of the second degree may be punished by a fine not to exceed $10,000.”

Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].

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