Friday, September 13, 2024
AZLE — At an Aug. 19 Azle City Council meeting Officer Marco Gallardo of the Azle Police Department was presented with the Distinguished Enforcement Hero Award by representatives from Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Texas. Emma Dugas, MADD State Program Manager, and Shay Harris, MADD Program Specialist, presented the award to Gallardo for apprehending 41 intoxicated drivers in 2023.
In a public statement from the APD, Gallardo was recognized for leading the department with the highest number of DWI arrests.
“(This) esteemed recognition is reserved for officers who have demonstrated exceptional dedication to DWI enforcement,” a Facebook post read. “We are so proud of his continued efforts and dedication to removing impaired drivers from our roadways.”
In one notable instance, Gallardo was responsible for the investigation that led to Azle resident Donald Read being sentenced to 60 years in prison. Last year, Read was arrested Aug. 25 for, at least, his sixth DWI in the city. The effective life sentence for the 64-year-old came down in March 2024.
In a phone call to the Tri-County Reporter, Read’s ex-wife said that she was grateful for his arrest, stating that she had felt Donald Read had gotten away with bad behavior for most of his life and that he had been a danger to their family.
MADD seeks to prevent intoxicated driving and support those impacted by it through advocacy, victim assistance, and a variety of partnerships with other organizations and governmental bodies throughout the country. Learn more about MADD by visiting madd.org/.
A recent analysis by Laborde Earles Injury Lawyers leveraged data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration spanning the years 2017 to 2021 and found Texas roadways are some of the most impacted by drunk driving. The study found Texas had the highest percentages of drivers exceeding the legal blood alcohol concentration or BAC limits based on reported fatal drunk driving incidents. More than four of every 10 Texas drivers involved in a fatal crash had a BAC of more than 0.08 g/dL. Over the five-year period that was measured, 11,185 of 27,392 drivers (40.83%) involved in fatal accidents were over the limit, while 7,682 (28.04%) surpassed 0.15 g/dL.
