The man accused in the drunken-driving crash that killed an on-duty Dallas police officer early Saturday had marijuana and was driving home after drinking tequila at an Uptown bar, according to police documents obtained by NBC 5 Wednesday.
According to police, 32-year-old Phillip Mabry was driving a Kia Forte at a high rate of speed when he struck the back of Officer Mitchell Penton's patrol car. Penton was directing traffic around a previous crash along the northbound lanes of North Central Expressway and Walnut Hill Lane.
The impact knocked Penton off his feet and onto the road. He was taken to Baylor University Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
According to the affidavit, a woman riding with Mabry told police she had been drinking with him at the Hideaway on Henderson bar. Mabry told police he had "two tequila sunrises and maybe two shots of tequila" before the two left for his home in South Dallas, the affidavit read.
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According to the affidavit, the woman told police that she didn't know Mabry's address and he insisted on driving. They stayed "for about an hour" before the two left for her home in Irving. "The last thing she remembers was putting her seat belt on and telling [Mabry] to do the same. [The woman] stated the next thing she remembers is standing outside in the cold," an officer stated in the affidavit.
A tow truck driver who witnessed the crash told police that Mabry "never put on his brakes."
One of the officers first on the scene said he noticed Mabry "dumping plastic baggies containing what looked like marijuana on the ground," the affidavit read. When confronted, Mabry told the officer, "It's just weed, man. It's just weed." Mabry continued to dump the substance on the ground before he was handcuffed, searched and put into the back of a police car, the affidavit read.
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In an interview with police before his arrest, Mabry said his level of intoxication on a scale of 1 to 10 was a "5" and that "he wasn't feeling any effects of the alcohol and didn't believe alcohol was a factor in the crash," the affidavit read.
Mabry faces a charge of intoxication manslaughter on a police officer and intoxication assault in connection with the woman he was riding with. He also faces a drug possession charge for the 6.7 grams of marijuana seized at the scene.
The woman was taken to a local hospital for trauma to her chest area and a laceration on her face. She later underwent surgery for internal bleeding, the affidavit said.
Penton's funeral was held Monday at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano. He leaves behind a wife who is pregnant with their first child, Dallas Police Association President Mike Mata said.
