‘Affluenza’ teen, mom tracked to Mexico by phone

Ethan Couch is photographed after he was taken into custody in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on Monday.

The public affairs department of the prosecutors’ office in Mexico’s Jalisco state tells The Associated Press 18-year-old Ethan Couch and his mother were detained in Puerto Vallarta around 6:00 p.m. Monday.

“They had planned to disappear”. “We learned that they had planned to disappear, that they even had something that was nearly akin to a going away party before they left town”.

The “affluenza” nickname for the teen came from a psychologist who said during Couch’s trial he was so wealthy and spoiled he could not tell the difference between right and wrong. The so-called condition is not a medically recognized diagnosis.

Couch, now 18, was placed on probation after a deadly drunken driving wreck but fled the country as authorities began investigating whether he violated terms of his sentence.

He and his mother lived for less than 30 days in a pricey hotel known as Los Tules, about two miles from downtown Puerto Vallarta, according to a spokesman for the state attorney general’s office in Mexico. He said the home they shared had been cleared of its contents. He said the Couches cooperated with police and that there was no resistance.

He said authorities have no evidence that Ethan Couch’s father, who owns a sheet metal factory in North Texas, was involved.

Mexican authorities made the arrest after a tip from the U.S. Marshals on their location when Tonya made a call for pizza.

The Couches are being held at immigration offices in Guadalajara and will be returned to Tarrant County by Wednesday evening. The phone had been used to order pizza for a room at a condominium complex.

Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson has said he believes the two fled in late November after a video surfaced that appears to show Couch at a party where people were drinking.

The police report says claimed to be carrying no identification and gave inconsistent stories about their names.

“They will be deported voluntarily”, said Ricardo Vera, the representative in Jalisco for Mexico’s National Institute of Immigration.

He and Anderson declined to say how authorities tracked Couch down.

A booking picture shared by Mexican authorities and seen above shows the once-blonde Couch with his hair dyed a darker colour, suggesting he was trying to hide his identity while hiding out.

Ethan Couch, the Texas teen whose lawyers were somehow able convince a judge that he is too rich and privileged to understand the consequences of his actions, has been arrested in Mexico, after breaking his probation.

A hearing has been scheduled for January 19 on the request to move the case to adult court, and he could face additional charges for fleeing. “It is an anomaly of Texas law that if we revoke his juvenile sentence he would stay in a juvenile facility until his 19 birthday, which is April 11 of next year”.

Ethan Couch’s attorneys, Scott Brown and William Reagan Wynn, issued a written statement Tuesday. He and his mother are expected to be returned to Texas to face charges, but it’s unclear exactly when that might happen. “The problem with it was, as you can imagine, Puerto Vallarta at Christmas time, a tremendous amount of tourists down there, so American people were prevalent everywhere, it wouldn’t be somewhere they were going to stick out”, he said.

“I would like for him to be held accountable as I’ve said all along”, Anderson said.

Ethan Couch, the teen whose “affluenza” affliction kept him out of jail after killing four in a drunk driving incident, was apprehended in Mexico early this week.

He pleaded guilty to four counts of intoxication manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault causing serious bodily injury. A judge sentenced him in juvenile court to 10 years’ probation and a stint in a rehabilitation center.

In mid-December a warrant was issued for Couch to be taken into custody after his probation officer couldn’t reach him.