INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

‘Affluenza Teen’ Mom Tonya Couch Formally Arrested In Los Angeles, Seen In Cuffs

By Amy Feinstein
Published on: 06:49 PST, Dec 31, 2015

At least one member of the Couch family will face charges for running off to Mexico. “Affluenza teen” mom Tonya Couch was arrested when she was flown back to the United States. Couch has been arrested on the felony charge of aiding and abetting a fugitive (her son Ethan) as he was facing a hearing for violating probation.

According to the Inquisitr, Tonya Couch was trying to fight extradition when she was deported from Mexico. The woman who is currently thought of as one of the worst parents in America was being held in a Guadalajara jail, along with her son, after the two went on the run, rather than let her son address his crimes. Ethan Couch was on probation for vehicular manslaughter after killing four people and injuring more. There is still no word on Ethan Couch’s punishment.

People Magazine is reporting that Tonya Couch was arrested after arriving back in the United States.

“We are holding her in our metropolitan detention center in downtown Los Angeles until Texas authorities pick her up,” LAPD Officer Norma Eisenman tells People. “It is a courtesy hold for Texas.”

Sadly, Ethan Couch will likely only face four months in prison as a result of his probation violation, according to Tarrant County District Attorney Sharen Wilson.

“That, in my opinion, is not a sufficient punishment for the taking of four lives,” she said at a news conference this week.

Tarrant County and the rest of the country is watching to see that the Couch family pay some price for their criminal behavior.

The Chicago Tribune shared photos of Tonya Couch in handcuffs after arriving in Los Angeles. Richard Hunter, Chief Counsel of the U.S. Marshal Service, says that now that he is alone in Mexico, Ethan Couch will likely drag out his deportation.

“It also depends on the fact the Couches have legal counsel. And it seems to me, if they wanted to, they could pay them as much money as they want to drag this thing out,” Hunter said. “We’re hopeful that’s not the case.”

But it isn’t just the Marshal service that wants to get their hands on Ethan Couch — it’s everyone in Tarrant County, and especially those injured in the crash and the families of those killed.

“Couch continues to make a mockery of the system,” said Fort Worth attorney Bill Berenson, who represented Sergio Molina. Molina was paralyzed and suffered severe brain damage in the crash.

An additional charge awaiting Tonya Couch, according to the New York Post is the fact that she was found with a gun in a drawer of their first stop, a swanky resort, just before they arrested her in Mexico. A representative of the resort, Marina Meza, told authorities that she found the gun.

“They seemed like normal people, perhaps a bit too private,” Meza told the Dallas Morning News. “But that’s something you get used to — the idea that some people may be running from their past.”

Ethan Couch asked if their dog could stay with them in the resort and inquired about local strip clubs while hiding out with his mother. There was no confirmation yet that he was drinking, but the suggestion has been alleged.

How long do you think Tonya Couch will be kept in prison for helping her son go on the run?

[Photo by Mark Terrill/AP]

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