Oilfield DWIs

By: Grace WhiteFollow Grace on Twitter @Grace__White on Facebook The kids say every time we see a cardinal outside, that's dad, said Florence Casas, a widow. It's a small reminder of a father's love. He left to H-E-B, everybody started getting here, said Casas. She lost her husband to a drunk driver back in 2011 on Labor Day weekend. Rick was just about to turn into the subdivision when the accident happened. It was a Sunday around 5 p.m. when a drunk driver ran through a light on Hwy. 181 and hit him. He was working in the oilfield somewhere in Kennedy, said Casas. It was Arturo Noreiga's 4th D.W.I. arrest. There's a feeling that I can't explain, the shame in knowing that I took one of God's children, said Noreiga, on the stand during his trial. What he told the court was going on at his crew quarters was alarming. He was drinking and there was a lot of beer in the refrigerator there and that he had a couple lines of cocaine there and it was normal, said Casas. We rode along with state troopers on the same highway where Rick was killed. Around 1 a.m. on a Saturday morning we caught an oilfield worker on his way home from a bar. How much have you had to drink tonight? asked Trooper Anthony Flores, D.P.S. I drank a few beers, said the suspect. How many is a few? asked Flores. I finally caught a few days off, probably about four or five, said the suspect. He had just moved to the area and when the trooper asked him to blow... Wait, hold on, hold on, you want to take me in for D.W.I.? I got a C.D.L. I'm not going to lose my license, he said. He checked a .15, said Flores. Almost double the legal limit. Since the oilfield boom started in Karnes County, we've seen an increase in D.W.I., said Sheriff Dwayne Villanueva, Karnes County. The problem for him is he's running out of room to house D.W.I. offenders. There's only 12 cells. But now Karnes County is making a new investment in a jail, four times bigger. We have more room in this facility and prepare us for the increase in bookings, said Villanueva. They need to have more awareness to let them know this is not right, said Casas. Noreiga was the first repeat drunk driver in Bexar County to receive a life sentence for murder for killing Rick. Back at home, his two children insisted some things be left the same. He worked two jobs, so in order for us to know where he's at every week he's write the schedule on the refrigerator, said Casas. There are moments when the whole world seems empty. It's just sad because my husband lost his dad to a drunk driver, that's what hurts the most, said Casas. But this widow hopes her story will be a wake-up call. I know people want to go work in the oilfields because it's a lot of money, it's good money, it's good money but look at the danger the society is, said Casas. A danger she's reminded of every time she looks at that little red bird. The number of D.W.I. arrests on the Eagle Ford Shale is actually down. Troopers credit their enforcement efforts and oilfield companies who are now doing more education with employees.