The Tomball Police Department said that a rush hour crash Jan. 16 was miraculous in that no one was killed.

Police officials allege that Marty Jones, 51, of Houston, was drunk when his vehicle suddenly shot across three northbound lanes of traffic, before veering across the southbound lanes of SH 249 and landing in a drainage ditch.

This would be Jones’ fourth Driving While Intoxicated offense in Harris County, according to court documents.

“When considering the fact that this guy, who has multiple priors for DWI, was again driving while intoxicated, I am amazed that he did not kill himself, or someone else,” Tomball Police Chief Robert Hauck said. “It is hard for me to imagine that during rush hour he crossed six lanes of traffic, three of them directly into oncoming traffic, left the roadway, rolled into a ditch, ended up trapped in his vehicle and essentially walked away with bumps and bruises.”

According to court records, Jones received his first DWI in 1987, his second in 1996 and a third in 2008. The latter landed him in state prison.

Jones was convicted in February of 2008 for Felony DWI and sentenced to four years in state prison. Prison officials paroled him in May of 2009. He was set to finish his parole on Jan. 30.

Officials with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) said they will not move to revoke Jones’ parole, unless something out of the ordinary occurs. It appears he will head back to prison if convicted.

“What generally happens in something like this is that we will not move to revoke parole unless the charges are dropped or he doesn’t receive a jail sentence,” Michelle Lyons, spokesperson for TDCJ said.

Hauck said that, while he remains amazed and thankful that no one was seriously injured, he takes the offense seriously and wants to issue a reminder to the public.

“Let me be very clear in my message to others who would choose to act in a similarly irresponsible and reckless manner,” he said. “The men and women of the Tomball Police Department stand ever-vigilant to safeguard the public and we will do everything within our power to ensure you go to jail before you kill someone.”

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