On Thursday afternoon the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office held its yearly DWI Awards Ceremony. The awards are given to law enforcement officers, agencies and organizations who help in in reducing DWI injuries and deaths in Montgomery County. This year awards were:
EXEMPLARY DWI OFFICERS
These officers lead the fight against impaired driving by enhancing their skills with specialized training, leading their agencies in DWI enforcement, or playing key roles in DWI initiatives.
OFFICER OF THE YEAR
This award recognizes an officer who admirably performs above and beyond the call of duty to protect the public from intoxicated drivers.
Deputy O’Neal with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office was named Office of the Year AGAIN!!
He seems to like the event and makes it an effort to return each year for the award. In 2022 he made an honorable mention with 88 DWI arrests. He wasn’t satisfied with that so in 2023 he returned again with almost double the arrests at 164 DWI arrests. Still not satisfied and wanting to shake District Attorney Brett Ligon’s hand again and add another plaque to his collection he had 181 DWI arrests. He is also one of the only deputies in Montgomery County who has testified more than any on his good arrests.
AGENCY OF THE YEAR
This award recognizes a law enforcement agency that makes the prevention and enforcement of impaired driving an agency-wide priority.
Montgomery County Precinct 4 Constables Office filed 334 DWI arrests in 2024. The agency had more than 9 deputies with over a dozen DWI arrests but also with Deputy Mendez and several others had over 30 DWI arrests. District Attorney Brett Ligon said if you combined all the Constables Offices in Montgomery County with the arrests, Precinct 4 had more than double all the arrests. But on their coattails is Precinct 5 Constables Office run by Constable Chris Jones. He also said Precinct 3 is also on the map with arrests.
INVESTIGATOR OF THE YEAR
For 2024 Investigators of the year were Game Warden Brannon Meinkowsky and Crash deconstructionist Game Warden Patricia Vannoy with Texas Parks and Wildlife. The award was given for their work in the fatality boat crash in 2021 and the operator was finally convicted and sentenced in 2024. The crash, July 10, 2021, happened after Robert Rice sat at a bar on Lake Conroe. He met two men in for an event for their children and after a while convinced them to take a ride on his new big boat. Traveling across the lake at close to 40mph at night the boat slammed into the bank at the Walden Golf Course. One of the men was ejected into the water for close to an hour before he realized he had an Apple Watch and called for help. Precinct 1 Lake Patrol was dispatched as were the Game Wardens. The two were rescued one of the men was killed. After several years of court and Game Warden Vannoy reconstructing the crash Robert Rice was sentenced to 12 years for intoxication manslaughter.
PUBLIC SERVICE AWARD
This award recognizes a non-law enforcement individual or organization that makes a substantial contribution to impaired driving prevention or enforcement efforts. Susan Martin with The Woodlands Township received this award. She is a program coordinator. She set several events for young people to bring the attention to the dangers of drinking and driving.
