Ethan Couch, the infamous 18-year-old known as the "affluenza teen" who killed four people while driving drunk in 2013, has been taken into custody in Mexico. The much-derided teen and his mother, Tonya, were apprehended in Puerto Vallarta on Monday evening, according to the Associated Press.
The search for the Texas teen was initiated when he missed a probation appointment earlier this month shortly after a video purporting to show Couch engaging in alcohol-related activities showed up on Twitter. If his participation in such activities can be proven, Couch faces the possibility of a revoked probation and "up to 10 years in prison."
Ethan Couch, 16 years old at the time, was driving while intoxicated and speeding near Fort Worth in June 2013 when he crashed his truck into a "disabled SUV" on the side of the road. Couch killed four people and injured multiple others, but managed to successfully argue that he suffered from “affluenza” thanks to a particularly creative (and maddening) defense expert. The condition, which essentially argues that Couch’s wealth burdened him with a numbness to general responsibility, is not recognized as an actual diagnosis by the American Psychiatric Association, AP notes. Thus, no one really bought it and no one really buys it still.
