ALMOST THREE YEARS LATER, NO JUSTICE FOR COUPLE STRUCK BY UNINSURED CAR OWNED BY RENE OLIVEIRA

By Juan Montoya
Three years ago come this November 9, Ofelia Garcia and Paul J. Rodriguez were driving along the 2500 Block of U.S. 77 Frontage road in their van near Charlie Clark Nissan when they were jolted by the impact of a speeding red Chrysler PT Cruiser.
The police report on the crash indicated that the impact had occurred at about 9:48 p.m.
The force of the crash  sent the couple's van hurtling out of control and into the grass median on the southern bound expressway lanes.
Shaken, they could see that the red Chrysler had veered through the fence around the Charlie Clark Nissan dealership and had ended up inside the lot.
When the Brownsville Police Department officer arrived, the couple refused medical treatment and inquired on the condition of the other driver. The driver of the van, Ms. Garcia, complained of pain to her body as a result of the crash, but both she and her passenger refused transportation to a hospital.The van had heavy rear-end damage as a result of the impact.
When the police arrived, they found that the red Chrysler had traveled some 200 feet after the impact, crashed through the dealership fence, and came to rest just short of striking display autos sitting on a ramp in the car lot. They found a woman in a high state of intoxication behind the wheel who appeared to be alone. The police officer noted that there was extensive front-end damage where the car had struck the couple's van.
It turned out that upon checking the vehicle identification number, the car belonged to Texas State Rep. Rene Oliveira, and not the woman operating the vehicle. Although the woman, later identified as Guadalupe Molina – Oliveira's then-girlfriend – was uncooperative and refused to get out of the car, officers later discovered that the car carried no insurance.
"I asked Ms. Molina to step out of the vehicle but she refused to move, as she had been doing when (another officer) made initial contact with her," wrote police officer Everardo Longoria. "She once again stated that 'she knew her rights.' I then reached in and grabbed her left wrist and started pulling her toward me in an attempt to extract her from the vehicle."
It took two officers to drag Molina out of the car and when they placed her near the police car on the dealership property line, she could not stand on her own."
Molina eventually – with Oliveira's assistance – entered a treatment regimen and carried on with her life.
At the time, various eyewitnesses said they saw a disheveled Oliveira run into the Cheddar's Restaurant next to the dealership and talk excitedly into his cell phone from the bathroom.
One commenter to this blog wrote (anonymously) that:  "I saw Rene at the restroom at Cheddar's at about 10:00 pm. He shirt was out. He was sweating profusely. He was on his cell phone."

November 28, 2011 6:48 PM.
Was Rene riding in the car when it struck the van and left the scene before police arrived as is claimed by the commenters? That was never determined one way or another by police who could have examined surveillance cameras in the restaurant and the car dealership.

Meanwhile relatives of the couple whose van was declared a total loss say that at least two law firms in Brownsville refused to handle any legal action against Oliveira and that at least one told her that the alleged driver (Molina) could not be sued because she was enrolled in a rehabilitation program.

Efforts to contact the woman who was driving the van at the time of the accident have been unsuccessful.

However, sources say that apart from the loss of her vehicle, she now has medical bills that she cannot pay.

"The best thing that she can do is to hire legal help from outside South Texas," said a local attorney. "You will find that many local lawyers will shy away from filing against Oliveira because of his political position and influence."

Meanwhile, people close to the victims are hoping that Oliveira or his legal representatives will step forward and assume their responsibility so they won't be force to incur further costs pursuing a legal remedy.

"They should do the right thing for these people," said a relative. "It's almost been three years, the driver was intoxicated, and neither she nor Oliveira have taken any responsibility and helped Ofelia for her losses."