A 35-year-old Alamo man being booked into McAllen jail on accusations he drove drunk told the officer he worked for the cartel and would pay him $1,000 if the officer let him go, police say.
McAllen police say Brady Hernandez made the statement to the officer who arrested him Tuesday night on charges of driving while intoxicated and displaying fictitious plates.
“I transported Brady to the McAllen police intoxilyzer room where throughout the ride he was being belligerent and claiming to be an employee to the cartels out of Reynosa, Mexico. Brady informed me that he transported several pounds of narcotics every week and earned $8,000 weekly. Once we arrived at the intoxilyzer room Brady asked me to let him go and he would give me $1,000.00,” the officer wrote in a probable cause affidavit.
After that, Hernandez learned he would also be charged with bribery.
The man came to the attention of McAllen police at approximately 11:39 p.m. Tuesday night after an investigator parked at the Tejano Mart at 1701 S. 10th Street reported seeing a black 1997 Ford Thunderbird.
“I observed as the driver was peeling out making the wheels spin on the street,” the investigator said in an affidavit.
Then police say Hernandez sped away at a high rate of speed and blew through two red lights.
The investigator then followed and watched as the vehicle, which displayed paper plates that were later determined to be registered to a Fort Worth woman, pulled into the La Copa Inn at 1010 W. Houston Avenue, according to the affidavit.
“I pulled into the parking lot of La Copa Inn when I saw the black in color Ford Thunderbird beginning to drive towards the exit as I was making my way into the parking lot. The Thunderbird then came close to my unit causing me to have to activate my overheads and stop where I was entering the parking lot,” the arresting wrote in a report.
The officer says he got out of the car and approached the driver, Hernandez, and the man’s passenger.
The officer asked both men to exit the vehicle and said Hernandez had slurred speech, bloodshot eyes and smelled like alcohol.
“Brady was asked if he had been drinking which he then advised he had not but then stated he had only drank one cup prior to operating the vehicle. Inside the vehicle we were able to see an opened bottle of Bucannans whiskey,” the affidavit states.
Police then arrested Hernandez, who they say became uncooperative and upset.
The passenger, who was not arrested and not intoxicated, told police Hernandez was upset because his girlfriend broke up with him and says he had asked the man to stop driving, according to the affidavit.
Hernandez remains jailed on $35,000 in bonds, records show.
