Arrest warrant issued after "affluenza" teen goes missing
DALLAS -- A juvenile-court equivalent of an arrest warrant has been issued for a teenager who killed four people in a 2013 drunken-driving wreck near Fort Worth, then claimed as part of his defense that he suffered from "affluenza."
Ethan Couch's attorneys told CBS DFW that a judge has issued "a directive to apprehend" Couch after a juvenile probation officer was unable to contact 19-year-old Couch or his mother, with whom he was living. Multiple agencies are now searching for the teen, the station reports.
Couch was 16 when he drunkenly rammed a pickup truck into a crowd of people, killing four. Two years ago, he was given 10 years' probation after his attorneys asserted Couch's wealthy parents coddled him into irresponsibility, drawing national controversy. Prosecutors wanted a maximum sentence of 20 years in state custody.
Couch missed a mandatory meeting with his Tarrant County juvenile probation officer last week, reports CBS DFW. Law enforcement went to the home where he last lived with his mother near Eagle Mountain Lake, northwest of Fort Worth, but couldn't find them - officials told the station the rental property was empty of belongings, possibly indicating a plan to leave.
Law enforcement officials had been worried that the Couch and his mother would flee, the station reports.
A video recently surfaced on social media that appears to show the teen playing beer pong. If the video proves the teen violated his probation, he would reportedly face prison time.