Houston man accused of driving drunk with 3-year-old in car has 2 previous charges, records show

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A Houston man is in jail facing his third DWI, but this time the charge is upgraded to note a child was in the car with him.

43-year-old Jose Orellana spent just minutes in front of a magistrate on Tuesday morning as he listened to the details of his third DWI being read out.

On Monday, the Harris County Precinct 5 Constables’ Office said Orellana was driving the mother of his child to work when law enforcement pulled him over for dangerous driving while on the West Sam Houston tollway near the Katy Freeway. Law enforcement said when they pulled Orellana over, he appeared intoxicated, had an open container of alcohol in plain view, and his three-year-old child was unrestrained in the car.

Orellana was arrested and charged with a DWI with a child passenger, court records show. Also noted in those records was his history of driving drunk.

In October 2020, Orellana was charged with DWI, and an interlock device was installed on his car to prevent additional drinking and driving while out on bond. Despite that, he picked up a second DWI just four months later, and in December of 2021, a bond violation noted he started missing interlock tests and calibration checks, locking him out of his car.

Harris County DA division chief of vehicular crimes Whitney Rasberry wouldn’t comment on this specific case, but said getting people to adhere to bond requirements can be challenging.

“We don’t know if they only have one car, and there are several circumstances where they say they don’t have a car, so the judge may order them that you just can’t drive at all, and they have to sign a no driving affidavit, but as we know, that’s only as good as the paper it’s signed on,” Rasberry said.

Rasberry said their office can’t predict who will reoffend and who will see court intervention as a wake-up call, noting it’s a charge many face that is entirely avoidable and can have deadly consequences.

“We continue to see intoxicated manslaughter. It’s been a very, very deadly couple of weeks for Harris County because people continue to make those choices and make the selfish decision to get behind the wheel intoxicated. There is zero reason in this day and age, with all the ride share apps and ways to get someone to drive you from point A to point B, there is zero reason people should decide to get behind the wheel and put everyone else’s life at risk,” Rasberry said.

Orellana pleaded guilty to his first two DWIs, spent a handful of days in jail, and completed his probation before this third charge. ABC13 asked Rasberry what she would say to Houstonians who see probation as a slap on the wrist.

“Especially in the misdemeanor DWI world, sometimes getting a long-term probation is more beneficial to encouraging change than serving those five days in jail or those three days in jail, because they are going to get a very short amount of jail time for a misdemeanor DWI, whether that’s from a judge or a jury,” Rasberry said.

Pct. 5 said the child in the case was released to his mother, who was not drunk and will not face any charges.

The magistrate told Orellana during his probable cause hearing that he would have to wait for a judge to decide whether he would get bond this time.

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