Man faces 20 years in prison after 7th DWI offense, killing 2 people
AUSTIN, Texas - A judge will soon decide how long a man will spend behind bars for drinking while driving.
In December 2022, Roberto Rangel was involved in a crash that killed two people.
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What happened?
The backstory:
Austin police said on Dec. 18, 2022, around 2:40 a.m., officers responded to a crash between a pick-up truck and a motorcycle in the 500 block of E. Ben White Boulevard SVRD.
The driver of the truck, 51-year-old Roberto Rangel, failed to yield right of way while exiting a parking lot.
As a result, a motorcyclist, 23-year-old Mark Narvaez, crashed into Rangel. Narvaez and a passenger, 22-year-old Kate Garcia, on the motorcycle with him died on the scene.
Family members speak out
What they're saying:
"I arrived to the scene of a crash involving a motorcycle and a pickup truck. The truck had front end damage and the motorcycle, from what I can tell, was mostly destroyed," a police officer who responded to the scene said in court Wednesday.
"It brings back, of course, the hard, you know, memories and from two years ago, so, yeah, I chose not to look at all of it," Mark Narvaez’s father, Hector Narvaez said.
"Half of my life is gone," Kate Garcia’s mother, Elida Zamora said.
This is now the third holiday season for these families to be without their loved ones.
"There's a big void in our family and, of course, through the holidays, but it's really every day of the year," Hector Narvaez said.
What happened to Rangel?
What they're saying:
Rangel has been out of jail, living his life.
After refusing to even attempt the field sobriety test in the early hours on Dec. 18, 2022, Rangel was arrested for intoxication manslaughter.
About three months later, his charge was reduced to DWI, his bond reduced to $10,000, and he got out of jail.
On January 22, 2025, when he walked into the courtroom, he wasn’t cuffed.
Rangel pleaded guilty to a second-degree felony DWI, 3rd or more.
Robert Rangel, 51, was arrested and charged with intoxication manslaughter.
This is Rangel’s seventh time he has been caught drinking and driving.
"I know people believe in second chances, but I think that this person has had more than, you know, a cat's lives," Hector Narvaez said.
What's next:
When Rangel left the courtroom Wednesday afternoon, he was cuffed and taken to jail.
"I really do commend Judge Needles for doing the right thing and actually, you know, escorting him out in cuffs until the sentencing hearing," Hector Narvaez said.
Rangel is set to be sentenced on February 12. He faces 2–20 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.
"This is really kind of the earthly way, right, the judicial way that we're going to be able to have some level of closure with this, but no, that void, well, you know, so long as we're around, will always be felt," Mark Narvaez’s brother Alex Narvaez said.
The Source: Information from interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin's Meredith Aldis