PALESTINE (KYTX) -- A state trooper has resigned after being arrested for allegedly driving while intoxicated on the afternoon of Friday, July 6th.
One of his fellow state troopers says 39-year-old Dana House had two little girls in the car when he headed north on Highway 287 out of Palestine.
In a probable cause statement obtained exclusively by CBS 19 the arresting trooper, Shanan Webb, said House was in his personal car and he was driving in the shoulder for no apparent reason. Then, she said, house started weaving across several of the lanes on the busy highway.
Webb pulled him over and two breathalyzer tests showed a blood alcohol level more than double the legal limit.
"He has testified in a number of cases," said Anderson County District Attorney Doug Lowe.
Lowe called House's arrest a surprise, partially because House usually testifies in DWI cases.
"Especially in rural communities, we're close with our officers," Lowe said. "So we felt some disappointment."
The turn that landed House on the wrong side of the courtroom has Lowe wondering if maybe another district attorney should be called in to prosecute.
"He won't receive any special consideration," Lowe said. "I think the danger he faces, though, is when any law enforcement officer is charged with a criminal offense, the tendency of the prosecutor is to even press a little harder."
House is charged with a state jail felony because of the two unidentified little girls in the back seat. He could be facing 2 year in prison.
House has been out on bond since his arrest. CBS 19 was not able to contact him Tuesday. His next court date has not been set.
DPS headquarters in Austin released the following statement:
Dana House resigned from the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) effective Monday after his off-duty arrest Friday for felony DWI. House was stopped just after 5 p.m. by DPS northbound on U.S. 287 in Palestine for a traffic violation. He later failed a field sobriety test and was ultimately charged with felony DWI, because there were two children in the car under 15 years old at the time of his arrest. He was suspended after the arrest.
House, 39, started with the Department in September 2000 and was a trooper stationed in Palestine.
