WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — A woman out on bond in connection with an alleged drunk driving wreck that seriously injured her passenger is now facing a higher bond after a February breathalyzer device showed she was four times above the legal limit of alcohol.

After the wreck on Sheppard Access Road early the morning of Nov. 10, 2022, police said Catherine Caldwell was three times the legal limit.

She had been out of jail on a $25,000 bond for intoxication assault and was scheduled to plead on April 5, 2024. However, her attorney requested a postponement because he was in federal court out of town.

But prosecutors filed a motion to increase her bond because of the 0.32 percent breathalyzer reading on Feb. 23, 2024. The terms of her bond prohibited alcohol consumption and required a lock device on her vehicle.

The motion states the “defendant’s alleged continued criminal activity suggest the defendant’s bond is insufficient” and that “for the sake of the community, the victim and to ensure the defendant’s appearance at trial,” the current bond should be ruled insufficient.

Caldwell was charged with intoxication assault after testing over the limit in the 2022 crash
that injured a passenger so badly that they were placed in long-term rehab to learn how to walk again. Caldwell was also charged with resisting arrest.

Officers said Caldwell left a bar on Sheppard Access just after 2 a.m. on Nov. 10, 2022. She was driving north in the southbound lane when she collided head-on with a parked box truck.

While Caldwell apparently suffered no serious injuries, officers said her front-seat passenger in the Nissan was knocked unconscious. Both of the passenger’s legs were broken (with a compound fracture of the right leg), their left knee was shattered and their right hip fractured.

The passenger also suffered an injury to their left eye socket and still can not see clearly from that eye.

Officers on the scene said Caldwell had slurred speech, alcohol on her breath, glassy eyes and was unsteady. Witnesses at the bar told officers they had tried to convince her to get a ride from the bar, but she became upset and was able to get her car keys and drive off.

Police say when they attempted to put her into custody, she told them no, broke free and tried to get back into her car. Officers said she continued to struggle, and they pushed her up against a fence.

They said she refused a blood draw, so police obtained a warrant. The toxicology report later showed her blood alcohol to be 0.22 percent, almost three times the legal limit.