A man accused of driving drunk with three young children in the car, hitting another vehicle on northbound Interstate 5 near Kelso and then fleeing the scene and continuing to drive recklessly into Lewis County in September 2021 is now facing felony charges in Lewis County Superior Court.
Misael Mendez Cortes, 29, of Bend, Oregon, was charged Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024, with one count of felony DUI and three counts of reckless endangerment after the Washington State Patrol Toxicology Lab finished testing Cortes’ blood and found his blood alcohol content was .15 as of 9:47 p.m. on Sept. 5, 2021, according to court documents.
Mendez Cortes was allegedly involved in a hit-and-run at milepost 43 on northbound I-5 at approximately 6:31 p.m. that day. He was allegedly “driving erratically” in a red pickup truck heading north from Cowlitz County into Lewis County when he struck the vehicle, injuring an occupant’s arm, and kept driving.
The truck was reportedly traveling at a high rate of speed and was traveling between lanes, according to court documents.
The truck reportedly pulled over into the brush off the side of the shoulder at milepost 63 in Lewis County at about 6:39 p.m., according to court documents. A trooper was advised that “the driver was getting out of his vehicle and … was stumbling and appeared impaired.”
A trooper located the truck parked in a ditch just south of milepost 65 on I-5 at approximately 6:46 p.m. on Sept. 5, 2021, according to court documents.
The trooper confirmed there were three children, ages 14, 6 and 5, in the vehicle at the time.
At least one of the children was not wearing a seat belt for the entirety of the time they were inside the truck, as the seat belt was locked in place, according to court documents
When questioned inside the truck, Mendez Cortes told the trooper “he had just pulled over because he ran out of gas” and said “he was just trying to take his kids up to Seattle for some fun,” according to court documents.
He denied being involved in a collision.
The trooper reported that he “could smell a strong odor of intoxicants coming from Mendez Cortes’ person” and noted several visible signs of intoxication, including watery and bloodshot eyes.
Mendez Cortes reportedly agreed to take voluntary field sobriety tests, which he failed. He allegedly refused to take a preliminary breath test and was arrested for DUI at 7 p.m. on Sept. 5.
He reportedly agreed to take the preliminary breath test when he was offered again and, despite saying “he had not consumed alcohol all day,” his BAC registered as .222.
Mendez Cortes allegedly “asked the trooper several times why he was in trouble for running out of gas” and, when told he had been arrested for DUI and vehicular assault “because he had struck another vehicle and did not stop,” Mendez Cortes allegedly “replied that the other vehicle had struck him and did not stop.”
The three children were transported to Vancouver, where they were placed in the custody of a family member, according to court documents.
The truck was transported to Washington State Patrol evidence storage.
Mendez Cortes was charged for the vehicular assault and hit-and-run in Cowlitz County Superior Court on Dec. 19, 2022, according to court records.
He pleaded guilty to one count of vehicular assault on Dec. 13, 2023, and was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
Bail is set at $25,000.
Arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 5.
