(Orange City)– A Sanborn man has been sentenced to 10 years in jail for driving drunk while his two-year-old niece was a passenger in his vehicle.
41-year-old Jose Martinez appeared in Sioux County District Court earlier this week where he was sentenced on charges of neglect of a dependent person…a class “C” felony; and operating while intoxicated–third offense–a class “D” felony.
The charges stem from a two-vehicle accident near Hospers in early April. Martinez pulled out from a driveway into the path of a vehicle on Highway 60, striking it from behind. An investigation by the State Patrol led to the arrest of Martinez, who had a blood alcohol content of .262. Martinez was driving with an open container of alcohol and his two-year-old niece in the vehicle.
Martinez was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the neglect charge and a five year sentence for the third OWI. The sentences will run consecutively.
Martinez will be transported to the prison in Oakdale.
(Story from Danielle Hitchings of sister station KDWD Hot 100 in Spencer.).
