HOUSTON – The holiday weekend has just begun, but drunk-driving arrests and accidents were already happening throughout the Houston area early Friday.
Houston and Harris County officials have designated Labor Day weekend as a "No Refusal" weekend, meaning that suspected drunk-drivers who refuse the breathalyzer will have their blood drawn and tested for intoxicants.
HPD said there were at least three drunk-driving accidents early Friday morning, and five people – including a police officer – were hospitalized as a result.
Four suspected drunk-drivers were arrested.
11 News went on a ride-along with HPD Officer Paul LaSalle for a front-row seat to the action.
During the ride-along, officers spotted a man asleep in his car at the intersection of 34th Street and Antoine Drive.
Police pounded on his window to wake him up, conducted a field sobriety test and arrested him on suspicion of DWI.
Elsewhere in the city, other suspected drunk-drivers were out on the roads.
At Highway 288 and Old Spanish Trail, police said they found a man passed out in his car, which was still in gear, around 3 a.m.
Just as the officer was calling for backup, the driver awoke and took off.
Police said he entered Highway 288 the wrong way, going north in the southbound lanes. He then went across the grass near S. MacGregor and continued south in the northbound lanes.
The driver finally went up a concrete embankment and came to a stop against a fence at the top.
Officers said the driver told them he thought the embankment was an exit ramp.
He was arrested at the scene.
At Broadway and Rockhill, police said a woman in a minivan ran a red light, causing an HPD unit to crash into the side of her car.
The minivan driver, her passenger and the officer were all transported to Southeast Memorial Hermann Hospital in stable condition.
Police said the minivan driver was under the influence and charged her with DWI and Intoxication Assault.
At Highway 249 near Breen, Harris County deputies said a woman was traveling eastbound on 249 when she crashed her Toyota head-on into a car and a pickup truck, which were stopped in a turning lane.
Deputies said the woman was intoxicated. She and her passenger were taken to the hospital in stable condition.
HPD said they will deploy "cop cabs" over the weekend on Washington Avenue to remind people to choose a designated driver before they go out, or to catch a cab home after hitting the bars.
