A local man has pleaded not guilty to a charge of driving while intoxicated and causing an injury accident in Commerce.
Willie Doss Jr., 44, remained in custody at the Hunt County Jail Wednesday in lieu of $20,000 bond on a charge of intoxication assault with a vehicle, as well as a $20,000 bond for a probation violation on a charge of robbery.
The Hunt County grand jury issued the intoxication assault indictment July 25.
Doss was arraigned on the charge Wednesday during a hearing in the 354th District Court. Judge Richard A. Beacom accepted the plea and scheduled a tentative trial date for December 8.
The indictment carries a second count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon regarding the same incident in May.
According to an announcement from the Commerce Police Department, officers were dispatched at around 2 p.m. May 7 to the area of State Highways 24 and 50 on a report of a two vehicle crash. Investigators at the scene found that a vehicle traveling northbound on Highway 50 was struck from behind by another vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed in the same direction.
Investigators suspected that Doss, the driver that caused the crash, had alcohol in his system. At the time of the crash, the occupants from both vehicles were transported to the hospital with major injuries.
The intoxication assault indictment is a third degree felony, punishable upon conviction by a maximum sentence of from two to 10 years in prison and an optional fine of up to $10,000.
Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon is a second degree felony, punishable upon conviction by up to 20 years in prison.
Doss had been placed on probation in December 2013 after pleading guilty to a charge of robbery which is also a second degree felony. A motion to revoke his probation was filed following his arrest in connection with the accident.
