SAN ANTONIO -- An off-duty San Antonio Police Department officer has been accused of driving drunk and wrecking an undercover police car.
Officer Winder Morales has been in trouble before for accidents behind the wheel and was the subject of a News 4 WOAI Trouble Shooters investigation. Luckily, this time he did not kill someone.
"I knew it was going to happen," said Cindy Merrill. "I told you that on our last interview, before something happens to someone else's family member, something needs to be done with him."
Earlier this year, Merrill told the News 4 WOAI Trouble Shooters about the 2006 accident that killed her son, Rodney. Officer Winder Morales' patrol car slammed into his truck while racing to a call and running a red light.
Friday morning, Morales had his fifth car accident in an San Antonio Police Department vehicle.
"In light of everything that's happened, and all the accidents he's been in, and a fatality accident, and he still demonstrates that kind of bad judgment," Merrill added. "He does not need to be a police officer. Not for the city of San Antonio. not for anywhere."
Morales reportedly flipped an undercover car he was driving hours after he finished his shift. He was charged with DWI after appearing intoxicated and refusing to take intoxication tests.
In March, Chief Bill McManus defended keeping Morales on the force after his deadly accident, and he was cleared by a grand jury.
Morales was suspended without pay and not allowed to drive a patrol car, so it is unclear why he was driving a departmental vehicle Friday morning.
During the News 4 WOAI Trouble Shooters' previous investigation, Chief McManus said the following about Morales and other officers who have been in a lot of accidents: "When they are in an accident, we take what we believe is the appropriate corrective action to make sure that doesn't happen again."
The San Antonio Police Department says it cannot talk about Friday's incident because of an ongoing investigation.
Morales faces not only possible criminal charges, but also an internal police investigation where he could be kicked off the force. He is now on administrative leave with pay.
