County dismisses DWI case against travel site pitchman
Harris County prosecutors this week dismissed a DWI charge against actor Tim Williams, best known as the TV pitchman for travel website Trivago.com.
Williams, 53, lives in Germany, and completed programs abroad which were even more exhaustive than the county-required alcohol education courses for pretrial diversion, according to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
“Mr. Williams took his Harris County case seriously by diligently completing programs in his home country that were comparable to our mandatory classes, and even did more than he had to in order to make sure he was complying,” said Nathan Beedle, chief of the Misdemeanor Division of the district attorney’s office. “In fact, he went above and beyond what is normally required.”
The county can tailor its pretrial diversion agreements for the convenience of people who live outside of the country, spokesman Michael Kolenc said. Similar arrangements have been struck for people who reside in Nigeria, Britain, Norway and Central America.
In usual pre-trial diversion cases in Harris County, first-time DWI offenders have to complete probation supervision for one year, do 16 hours of community service and finish a nine-hour drug and alcohol course. If they have a vehicle, they have to install an alcohol monitoring device, Kolenc said.
Williams’ attorney, Joseph Philip Scardino, said his client did community service and also spoke at some schools.
“This case was dismissed pretty much on merit,” he said.
Police arrested Williams on April 10, 2019, in west Houston, after finding him passed out behind the wheel of a vehicle in the mid-afternoon, according to court records. His foot was on the brake, and he was sitting in a moving lane of traffic, police said.
Officers reported that Williams failed a field sobriety test and submitted to a blood-alcohol draw. He had been released on $100 bond.
Houston is Williams’ hometown, according to his IMDb biography.