One dead in NW Houston wreck

Houston police say the driver missed a curve and hit a fence at the Willowbrook Mall at Tomball Parkway around 3:30 this morning. 

Three men were in the car. One passenger was declared dead at the scene. The second went to the hospital with non life-threatening injuries. The driver was not hurt.

Officers believe alcohol was involved.

"He is right now being detained and waiting to be charged with intoxicated manslaughter. He has been drinking, and we are awaiting the DA's office to confirm the charges can be filed on him," said Steve Sorge with HPD.

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Drunk dad with kid in vehicle fatally strucks another driver

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Investigators say a man was drunk and driving with his son when he hit a vehicle and killed another driver.

Just before 8pm Sunday, Harris County Sheriff's deputies say Shannon Smith was traveling southbound in the 9800 block of Barker Cypress in the first lane of traffic and passed a slower-moving vehicle. Smith failed to drive in a single marked lane, striking the slower vehicle, investigators say.

Smith then lost control of his vehicle, causing the vehicle to enter into the oncoming lanes of traffic, and striking another vehicle which was traveling northbound in the 9800 block of Barker Cypress.

The male victim suffered life-threatening injuries and died at the scene.

Investigators say Smith, who had his 10-year-old son in the vehicle with him at the time of the crash, was found to be intoxicated. He was charged with intoxication manslaughter and DWI w/child passenger, both felonies.

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NW Houston chase ends in drug bust

HOUSTON -

A man was arrested early Wednesday morning, shortly after leading police on a chase.

Officers said they attempted to stop the driver because his car did not have a front license plate.  He sped off and officers gave chase. During the chase, officers said they saw the man throw beer and a small bag of marijuana out of the window.

He was arrested a short time later on West 31st Street near Alba in northwest Houston.  Officers said he admitted to running because he knew he had warrants out for his arrest.

Grandmother charged with letting dog maul her granddaughter

A grandmother and her boyfriend face felony charges after their dog mauled her year-old granddaughter last month, according to the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

Patricia Palmer Luddecke, 54, and Larry Martinez, 50, are each charged with endangering a child in connection with the Oct. 8 incident, court records show. A judge has set a $2,000 bond for each suspect.

The baby's mother told police that she left the baby with Luddecke and her boyfriend at their northwest Houston home, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday. The couple agreed to baby-sit the child.

The mother received a phone call from Luddecke, who informed her that the baby was being taken to the hospital because she fell off the bed, the complaint states.

Doctors at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center treated the child for a large gash extending from the right corner of her mouth, over the bridge of her nose, to the edge of her left eye, investigators said. The injury was so severe that the baby "would sustain permanent injury and scarring on her face," a physician at the hospital told police.

The grandmother and her boyfriend offered a different version of events two days later, when questioned by Houston police.