Man gets prison time for alcohol-related crash

A Houston County Circuit Court judge sentenced a 22-year-old man to serve 18 months in prison for his involvement in an alcohol-related crash in Webb that left a Georgia woman severely injured.

Judge Larry Anderson denied Jacob Juarez probation. He was ordered to serve more than a year in prison and then be turned over to agents with the U.S. Immigration Customs Services. Webb police arrested Juarez on April 1, 2008, and charged him with felony first-degree assault. Juarez pleaded guilty in December to the charge.

Assistant District Attorney Banks Smith called the crash a driving under the influence related incident with serious injury.

Webb police charged Juarez for his involvement in a two-vehicle on March 27, 2008, that left both Kimberly Etheridge, 56, and her son, Chase Etheridge, 25, with multiple injuries. Kimberly Etheridge of Milledgeville, Ga., suffered several broken bones in her right leg, along with injuries to her head. The crash left her trapped inside the Lexus for nearly two hours.

According to a previous Dothan Eagle report, Juarez drove a Ford pickup with no headlights and crashed head-on into the Lexus driven by Chase Etheridge. Juarez apparently was fleeing from a hit and run crash that occurred moments earlier near Southeast Alabama Medical Center.