DALLAS — Sporting a newly dyed mop of brown hair, the Texan teen serving probation for killing four people in a drunken wreck after relying on an “affluenza” defense was nabbed along with his mom in Mexico.
A glum and cuffed Ethan Couch, 18, is wearing an unbuttoned blue shirt in a photo released by Mexican authorities.
Jalisco state officials said agents had been working with US authorities since Dec. 26 to track down the teen and his mother, Tonya Couch, 48, who were collared Monday evening in the popular resort of Puerto Vallarta.
Authorities began searching for the two after Ethan Couch failed to keep a mandatory appointment with his probation officer on Dec. 10.
He and his mom are believed to have fled in late November after a six-second video surfaced via Twitter that appears to show the teen having a grand time at a party where people were drinking and playing beer pong, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.
If he is found to be drinking, his probation could be revoked and he could be sentenced to up to 10 years in the slammer.
A spokesman for the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Department has declined to say whether Tonya Couch faces any charges.
There was no immediate comment from the US Marshals Service, which had issued a wanted poster promising a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to Couch’s arrest.
The Sheriff’s Department’s fugitive unit started searching for Couch on Dec. 16 after his probation officer found the home he rented with his mom empty, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. US marshals joined the search two days later.
On June 15, 2013, at age 16, a wasted Couch was speeding near Fort Worth when he crashed his Ford pickup truck into a disabled SUV on the side of a dark two-lane road.
Killed were Breanna Mitchell, 24, whose SUV had broken down; Brian Jennings, a youth minister who had stopped to help; and Hollie Boyles, 52, and her daughter, Shelby Boyles, 21, who had come from their house to assist.
Twelve people were injured, including Sergio Molina and Solaiman Mohman, teens who were riding in the bed of Couch’s F-350.
Couch had a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit and had traces of Valium in his system, the paper reported, citing court testimony.
He pleaded guilty to four counts of intoxication manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault causing serious bodily injury.
Due to his age, he wasn’t certified as an adult for trial and a judge sentenced him in juvenile court to 10 years’ probation and a stint in a rehab center.
A defense expert had argued that Couch’s wealthy parents coddled him into a sense of irresponsibility — a condition the expert called “affluenza,” prompting widespread ridicule.
The American Psychiatric Association does not recognize “affluenza” as a medical diagnosis.
Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said Couch has never expressed remorse for his actions.
With Post Wires