Cala Richardson (via Lake Worth (Texas) Police Department).
A Texas bartender has been arrested after she allegedly “overserved” a man who then got in his car and struck and killed a police detective driving with his family, authorities said.
Cala Richardson, 26, was allegedly behind the bar at a Lake Worth restaurant where Dylan Molina told police he had been drinking on Nov. 21, 2021, before running a red light and slamming his Jeep Wrangler into a Chevrolet Impala being driven by Alex Cervantes.
Cervantes, a detective with the Euless Police Department, was killed. His wife, Priscilla Cervantes, was in a coma for nearly a month after the crash, and their two sons, Joshua and Jake, were also seriously injured.
Callers to 911 reported that Molina was “attempting to flee the crash scene on foot,” Lake Worth police said at the time. He was apprehended by police, who “smelled a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage” on his breath.
According to local ABC affiliate WFAA, Molina had also gotten into a minor accident moments before colliding with the Cervantes family.
“During the investigation, Detectives obtained evidence indicating the suspect was overserved by Richardson, who at the time was a bartender at Fuzzy’s Taco Shop in Lake Worth,” a statement from the Lake Worth Police Department said.
“Additional evidence indicated Richardson’s [Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission] server’s license was expired at the time she served the suspect,” the statement added.
Richardson is charged with one count of Sale to Certain Persons, which Lake Worth police say is a “Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to 1 year in jail and a $4,000 fine.”
Molina pleaded guilty in January to intoxication manslaughter and three charges of intoxication assault. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the manslaughter account and 10 years each for the assault charges but will serve only 15 years as the judge ordered the sentences to run concurrently.
According to the Tarrant County District Attorney, the Cervantes family supported the plea agreement. At Molina’s sentencing, Priscilla Cervantes said that her husband “was and forever will be our hero.”
“I hope every day behind bars is pure agony for you,” she told Molina. “I will never forgive you for as long as I live.”
“Like most serious alcohol-related crashes, this case has devastated an entire family,” said Lake Worth Police Chief J.T. Manoushagian. “Today’s arrest fulfills a commitment we made early on – and that was to fully investigate this senseless crime and hold those responsible accountable.”
Sheriff’s records indicate that Richardson was released from custody on a $1,000 bond. It’s unclear whether she has an attorney.
“State law prohibits the sale of alcohol to an intoxicated person,” a spokesperson for the TABC told Law&Crime in an email. “Businesses, as well as their employees may be held accountable in the event of a violation […] TABC’s investigation is to determine whether the business violated the law in allowing a person to be overserved prior to the accident. The misdemeanor case against the server is a separate issue being pursued by Lake Worth PD.”
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