In a highly unusual move, the Bexar County district attorney’s office refiled a case Monday against local businesswoman Catherine Amato that charges her with driving while intoxicated — the same charge the DA’s office had dismissed just last month.

LaHood’s office in April had cited “no probable cause” for Amato’s arrest as reason for the dismissal, despite a police report and affidavit detailing an officer’s reasons for arresting Amato as well as a judge’s assertion that the officer had probable cause for the arrest.

“I was personally unaware of this situation,” District Attorney Nico LaHood said in a statement released Monday. “Once this matter was brought to my attention, I had our office conduct an immediate review of all the evidence in the case. I do not agree with the manner in which the original prosecutor handled this case and arrived at his decision. As such, in the interest of justice, I have directed that this cause, Case Number 566888 be refiled immediately.”

Barbara Espinoza-Vera, a court services coordinator for the county, said LaHood’s office Monday tried to refile the DWI against Amato under its original case number — 566888 — but “if we had accepted it, it would have been double jeopardy, grounds for dismissal. We know they know that.”

She added, “Twenty-two minutes later, they closed it up again and said, ‘Hold on, we’re going to file a new complaint … to refile the case.’”

Backstory: Local businesswoman with ties to Spurs, LaHood had DWI charge dismissed

Amato owns and operates multiple Subway and Ruby Tuesday restaurants in the area with her partners. She is the wife of Charlie Amato, chairman and co-founder of SWBC and a Spurs shareholder — although the couple apparently are in the midst of a divorce. Styled only as “C. Amato and C.A. Amato,” court records state that the couple “ceased to live together as husband wife” in April 2017 because of “discord or conflict of personalities.”

On Feb. 26, Amato’s BMW was swerving on Northwest Loop 410, nearly colliding with other vehicles, according to the police report and affidavit. An officer, J. Portillo, wrote that Amato was swaying on her feet and had a strong odor of alcohol; he found open containers of vodka in her purse and car. Amato refused to provide a sample of her breath or blood, so the officer filed an affidavit for a search warrant, and a judge signed a warrant authorizing a forcible blood draw.

The DA’s office has not released the results of the blood draw despite repeated requests.

The officer who arrested Amato was not notified about the charge’s dismissal; he first learned about it when the story was published in the newspaper Saturday, police union president Mike Helle said Monday.

“He was very upset,” Helle said. “The way I responded to him was, basically, these situations are out of his hands. … And he at least was able to take a drunk driver off the street who wasn’t able to kill a family or one of us.”

Helle added, “For some weird reason, they can’t find the video (of Amato’s arrest). It somehow mysteriously has vanished. … Somebody close to the case isn’t even able to see the video. It’s gone. Which is very, very, very unusual.”

Other than his statement Monday, LaHood and his office have ignored repeated requests for comment about Amato’s DWI, the second time in less than two years that she was charged with that offense.

Read more: Bexar County DA candidates weigh in on dismissal of prominent San Antonio businesswoman's DWI charge

In 2016, despite having refused to provide a sample of her breath and blood, Amato struck a plea deal with prosecutors, who granted her deferred adjudication and reduced her first DWI to a lesser “obstruction of a highway” charge.

After the dismissal of her most recent DWI, Amato was attempting to have all records of the case destroyed; an expunction hearing was set for next month.

Last week, County Clerk Gerry Rickhoff called the case a “rogue event,” noting its unusual speed through the system.

LaHood’s refiling of the DWI charge was rarer still.

“Very unusual,” said Espinoza-Vera, who has worked in the courts for 22 years. “This rarely happens. I’ve never seen it myself.”

bchasnoff@express-news.net