US Marshals join search for ‘affluenza’ teen

In this December 2013 image taken from a video by KDFW-FOX 4, Ethan Couch is seen during his court hearing in Fort Worth, Texas. His apparent disappearance came after a video allegedly showed him at a party where alcohol was being consumed, authorities said.

A teenager who sparked outrage after getting probation for a drink drive crash that killed four people because he was suffering from “affluenza” is being hunted by police.

“We all know the family has plenty of money and I think this was planned and they’re going to run far and try to hide”, said Anderson in an interview with Reuters. The U.S. Marshals Service posted photos of Ethan Couch online Friday, along with a $5,000 reward for information leading to his capture. Reuters reports that Couch and his mother took their belongings and passports when they left the home they shared, sparking fears he may have escaped the country.

His lawyers had used an “affluenza” defense; claiming Couch’s parents were dysfunctional guardians who never taught their son to live responsibly, obey the law or respect authority.

Prosecutors had asked for 20 years behind bars, but a Tarrant County juvenile court judge sentenced Couch to a decade of probation.

The manhunt began after the now 18-year-old missed a mandatory meeting with his probation officer last week.

At trial, psychologist testified Couch suffered from “affluenza” because his family’s wealth and a dysfunctional relationship with his parents left him without a sense of responsibility. Ethan was 16 when he drunkenly drove a pickup truck into a crowd of people.

Since then, Couch and his mother have gone missing.

“Any mess-ups from now on, he’s going to be over with us”, Terry Grisham, the spokesman for the Tarrant County sheriff’s office, said to Raw Story.

“He and his mother have the means to be able to travel to wherever they may want to travel”, Sam Jordan, a spokeswoman for the Tarrant County district attorney’s office said according to the AP.

In June 2013, he and some friends stole beer from Wal-Mart and got behind the wheel.

Mitchell, a youth pastor named Brian Jennings, Hollie Boyles, and her daughter, Shelby, were killed.

“If he had been sent to prison, Couch would’ve been out in a few years with a clean record!” Two passengers in his auto were ejected and seriously injured. Authorities said his blood-alcohol level was 0.24 per cent – three times the legal limit for an adult – and that he had traces of Valium in his system at the time of the crash. There should be no tilting one way or the other based on who you are or where you’re from.