Former S.A. News Anchor Arrested for DWI
A former San Antonio news anchor has been charged with DWI after a wrong-way crash in San Antonio.
About the DWI Arrest
Karen Gallagher, 56, a former television news anchor in San Antonio, Texas, was arrested for driving while intoxicated after sideswiping another vehicle on Wednesday evening, reports the San Antonio Express-News.
The crash occurred in the 17900 block of Rogers Ranch on July 29 around 7:40 p.m., according to a Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) report.
Gallagher was driving northbound on Rogers Ranch when she lost control of her 2010 Lexus RX while speeding around a turn, said the DPS crash report. Gallagher then drove over the median and continued into oncoming traffic, sideswiping a Ford F-150.
Gallagher continued to head north in the southbound lanes of Rogers Ranch following the incident. The driver of the Ford F-150 stated that he stopped Gallagher by getting into the Lexus and turning off the ignition.
Gallagher was featured on San Antonio’s KENS TV in the 80s until moving to KSAT as a main anchor where she stayed until 1998. Gallagher faced charges of obtaining drugs by fraud in 2011 after accusations of altering doctor’s prescriptions and taking prescription painkillers from the home medicine cabinet of an acquaintance.
The charges were dismissed in 2013 after Gallagher’s completion of her deferred adjudication probation.
Impaired Driving Statistics
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that in 2010, over 1.4 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics.
- Alcohol-related crashes cost $59 billion annually.
- According to the CDC, nearly 30 individuals die every day in the United States in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. That averages to one death every 51 minutes.
- The CDC reports that in 2013, 10,076 people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes.
