Fred Couch, father of ‘affluenza’ teen Ethan Couch, arrested in North Richland Hills for impersonating police officer
By Robert Wilonsky
rwilonsky@dallasnews.com
4:01 pm on August 19, 2014 | Permalink
http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/201...ing-north-richland-hills-police-officer.html/
Fred Couch (North Richland Hills Police)
The North Richland Hills Police Department says Fred Couch has been arrested for impersonating a police officer.
Fred Couch is the father of Ethan Couch, the teenager who pleaded guilty to killing four and seriously injuring two others while driving drunk in Burleson. The Couches became synonymous with the phrase “affluenza” after State District Judge Jean Boyd sentenced Ethan to 10 years probation on the intoxication manslaughter charges.
Now Fred Couch will face criminal charges following his arrest this morning on a warrant for falsely identifying himself as a police officer.
According to police, the incident that landed Fred Couch in the North Richland Hills Detention Facility just before 11 this morning occurred at 1:17 a.m. July 28. In a media release, police say that officers responded to a disturbance call at a house on the 4400 block of Mackey Drive. Fred Couch, police say, was already on the scene and identifying himself as a reserve officer in Lakeside, a small Tarrant County town on Lake Worth.
After officers wrapped up their disturbance investigation, says the release, they turned their attention back to Couch, who once again insisted he was a Lakeside Police Department reserve officer. He told officers he could prove it, that he had his “police stuff” in his car. And, sure enough, he reached into the car, took out his wallet and showed the North Richland Hills officers “what appeared to be a police badge and identification card, suggesting he was a police officer,” says the release. At that point, he was allowed to go.
But the North Richland Hills officer kept looking into Couch’s claim, and after doing some digging, the release says, he determined that Fred Couch — who actually owned Cleburne Sheet Metal — wasn’t who he claimed to be, and he’s never been licensed as a Texas peace officer. At that point a warrant was issued for his arrest, the formal charge False Identification as a Police Officer: Misrepresentation of Property.
He was just released from the detention center after posting bond set at $2,500.00.
As the U.K. Daily Mail reported last December, Fred has a lengthy criminal history that includes arrests for, among other things, theft and evading arrest.
I saw on the news this morning here that dude has been arrested 28 times so far
By Robert Wilonsky
rwilonsky@dallasnews.com
4:01 pm on August 19, 2014 | Permalink
http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/201...ing-north-richland-hills-police-officer.html/
Fred Couch (North Richland Hills Police)
The North Richland Hills Police Department says Fred Couch has been arrested for impersonating a police officer.
Fred Couch is the father of Ethan Couch, the teenager who pleaded guilty to killing four and seriously injuring two others while driving drunk in Burleson. The Couches became synonymous with the phrase “affluenza” after State District Judge Jean Boyd sentenced Ethan to 10 years probation on the intoxication manslaughter charges.
Now Fred Couch will face criminal charges following his arrest this morning on a warrant for falsely identifying himself as a police officer.
According to police, the incident that landed Fred Couch in the North Richland Hills Detention Facility just before 11 this morning occurred at 1:17 a.m. July 28. In a media release, police say that officers responded to a disturbance call at a house on the 4400 block of Mackey Drive. Fred Couch, police say, was already on the scene and identifying himself as a reserve officer in Lakeside, a small Tarrant County town on Lake Worth.
After officers wrapped up their disturbance investigation, says the release, they turned their attention back to Couch, who once again insisted he was a Lakeside Police Department reserve officer. He told officers he could prove it, that he had his “police stuff” in his car. And, sure enough, he reached into the car, took out his wallet and showed the North Richland Hills officers “what appeared to be a police badge and identification card, suggesting he was a police officer,” says the release. At that point, he was allowed to go.
But the North Richland Hills officer kept looking into Couch’s claim, and after doing some digging, the release says, he determined that Fred Couch — who actually owned Cleburne Sheet Metal — wasn’t who he claimed to be, and he’s never been licensed as a Texas peace officer. At that point a warrant was issued for his arrest, the formal charge False Identification as a Police Officer: Misrepresentation of Property.
He was just released from the detention center after posting bond set at $2,500.00.
As the U.K. Daily Mail reported last December, Fred has a lengthy criminal history that includes arrests for, among other things, theft and evading arrest.
I saw on the news this morning here that dude has been arrested 28 times so far
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