DALLAS (AP) — Authorities say a Texas teenager serving probation for killing four people in a drunken-driving wreck after invoking an “affluenza” defense has been detained in Mexico.
The public affairs department of the prosecutors’ office in Mexico’s Jalisco state tells The Associated Press 18-year-old Ethan Couch and his mother were detained in Puerto Vallarta around 6:00 p.m. Monday. No further details were immediately available.
The Tarrant County District Attorney’s office also confirmed the two had been detained.
The Tarrant County sheriff has said he thinks they fled in late November after video emerged showing what appears to be Ethan Couch at a party involving alcohol. He could go to prison for up to 10 years if found to have violated his probation by drinking.
At his trial, Couch’s attorneys argued he suffered from “affluenza” because he had been coddled by his wealthy parents.
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