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Early last Monday morning May 6, Montgomery County 911 dispatchers received a call about a bad wreck on FM 1774, south of Magnolia.

When Magnolia firefighters arrived around 1:30 a.m., they found a white 2008 Dodge pickup truck in a ravine off the side of the road, near Hunters Lane.

Officials said that the truck veered off the road and cut through several trees, before ending up on its side. Firefighters and EMT's found the driver, Ramiro Castillo-Juarez, 25, still eat belted inside the cab with minor injuries.

His coworker, Louis Alcala, 47, was not seat belted and was found non-responsive inside the truck. Montgomery County Pct. 5 Justice of the Peace Matt Masden later declared Alcala dead at the scene.

Castillo-Juarez was transported to Tomball Regional Medical Center with minor injuries. After his release he was taken into custody
and jailed on charges of Intoxication Manslaugh-ter.

The crash caused a headache for early morning traffic, as a crane from Milstead Heavy Duty had to be called in to remove the truck from the ravine. FM 1774 was closed in both directions until just after 6 a.m.

Alcala's body was transported to the Montgomery County Forensic Center for autopsy.

The Montgomery County District Attorney's office said that Castillo-Juarez's bond was set at $150,000.

The crash was investigated by Department of Public Safety troopers and the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office.

With area schools soon letting out for Spring Break, local law enforcement agencies plan to be out in force to catch drunk drivers.

"During Spring Break and going into St. Patrick's Day, there can be an increase in drunk driving, so we try to increase our presence on the roadways," said Lt. Dan Norris of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office.

Along with the sheriff's office, state troopers, Magnolia Police and Tomball Police will all be stepping up enforcement over the next week.

"Too frequently people choose to drink and drive during Spring Break, which is an extremely dangerous decision that often leads to senseless tragedy," said Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw. "Getting impaired drivers off the roads during Spring Break is a major priority for the department, and we also urge the public to make responsible decisions, such as designating a non-drinking driver or finding alternative transportation if they are impaired."

The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office plans to have additional deputies working overtime, as well as using their mobile alcohol testing van in various locations.

Magnolia Police Depar-tment (MPD) officials said they will be working in concert with both the sheriff's office and the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office, to combat drunk drivers.

MPD executive officer J.K. Seangal said that his department will be holding extended no refusal weekends. If a person is pulled over and refuses to submit to a breathalyzer test, then a warrant will immediately be secured to draw that person's blood.

"These types of enforcements are very successful," Seangal said. "Montgomery County as a whole takes drunk driving very seriously. These efforts have actually deterred drinking and driving."

Meanwhile, Tomball police will be taking an overall traffic safety approach.

"We are going to conduct an enhanced traffic safety initiative," said Cpt. Rick Grassi. "That includes extra patrols to search for DWI (driving while intoxicated) offenders, seat belt violations and speeding."

Grassi said extra officers will be deployed to do saturation patrols around the city.

Norris said that drunk driving is a crime that occurs daily and crosses social and economic barriers.

"Education is so important to this effort," he said. "It's one of the laws that are so easy to follow if people just drink responsibly."