New information is coming in on the bizarre story of Ethan Couch, the teen who got off with 10 years of probation with an “affluenza” defense after killing four people in a drunk driving incident in 2013. When Couch and his mother went missing earlier this month, it was assumed that the two had gone on the lam due to a video that surfaced of Couch allegedly playing beer pong and violating his probation. This was confirmed to likely be the case this week when Couch and his mother turned up in the Mexican city of Puerto Vallarta sporting a drastically different appearance.
We’re now getting a better picture of the series of events that took place leading up to the apprehension, including that Couch and his mother had allegedly “planned” to disappear, even throwing sort of a going away party before leaving town. And as it turns out, the thing that immediately led to the pair’s arrest was that Couch had apparently used his cell phone to order pizza. Domino’s Pizza, to be exact.
A U.S. Marshals Service agent tipped authorities in Mexico to the location of the phone on Monday, according to a police report issued by the Jalisco state prosecutors’ office. The phone had been used to order pizza for a room at a condominium complex in the beach resort city.
When agents went to the condo, the Couches had already moved on, but a tourism operator pointed agents to the mother and son’s new home at an apartment in Puerto Vallarta’s old town. Agents set up a surveillance operation in the area and found the Couches that night.
They drove more than 1,200 miles to Mexico and it never even occurred to them to get a burner phone? SMH. If Couch had just been found to have been underage drinking, the probation violation would have likely landed him a paltry four months in a juvenile corrections facility. However, now if Tarrant County District Attorney Sharen Wilson, who is presiding over his case, succeeds in getting a judge to transfer Couch’s probation to an adult system — which she is attempting to do — he will face a much heavier punishment.
Meanwhile, Tonya Couch will potentially face anywhere between two to ten years in prison if it’s proven that she hindered her son’s apprehension.
(Via Fox 11)