Houston Personal Injury Attorneys – Smith & Hassler

11-year old Gabe Rojas and his best friend Jartis Soloman were seriously injured when they were struck by an out-of-control car as the two boys played basketball in the Rojas family’s driveway. Gabe suffered a badly broken leg and was pinned under the car for several minutes after being dragged into the neighbor’s yard. Jartis suffered a broken wrist. Both boys play little league baseball for the Texas Bombers, and were visited by their coach and teammates at Memorial Hermann Hospital on Friday; the accident happened Wednesday. Team coach David Trevino has set up a fund to help the family pay the boys’ medical expenses. Investigators say the driver of the car was a teenager who lost control of the vehicle.

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Recovering damages for an auto-pedestrian accident | Getting your medical bills paid after a car accident

Scene of Wednesday's accident

Jartis Soloman (L) and Gabe Rojas (R) recover in hospital

A pedestrian was stuck and killed on Wallisville Road near Sheldon Road in northeast Harris County this morning. A photograph from KHOU’s web site shows a white-colored full-size pickup truck that appears to have skidded off the roadway.  Channel 2’s report on the same incident states the pickup driver was being detained by police (thought it does not say why).

Photo credit: KHOU

A 61-year old man driving an SUV was killed in a two-vehicle accident yesterday afternoon. According to the account witness Elizabeth Summerlin gave Channel 2 News Houston, the man’s SUV lost control after clipping the back of a United States Postal Service 18-wheeler, causing the SUV to lose control and flip onto its side. The SUV became wedged between the 18-wheeler and the concrete retaining wall, and the SUV became engulfed in flame. Good Samaritans stopped their vehicle, some using fire extinguishers, and tried to rescue the SUV driver. Unfortunately the man was unable to escape the burning SUV and he died at the scene. The crash happened on Houston’s Southwest Freeway near the Chimney Rock exit at around 3:00 p.m.

Update 1: the deceased SUV driver has been identified as Dan Winfrey. Mr. Winfrey’s sister Donna Griffin was interviewed by KHOU, stating her brother was on his way to collect his girlfriend from her workplace when the accident happened. Ms. Griffin told KHOU her brother was unfamiliar with the area and was using his cellphone to ask his girlfriend what exit he should take; reportedly Mr. Winfrey exclaimed “Oh God” and the phone went dead.

24-year old Danny Sandoval has been charged with Driving While Intoxicated in connection with a fatal crash on Houston’s East 610 Loop.  The wreck happened around 3:20 a.m. on Saturday March 22nd.  A 23-year old woman driving a Honda Civic northbound struck a concrete wall, after which the Honda went back into the travel lanes.  Danny Sandoval’s Jeep Wrangler then struck the Honda, killing the woman driving and injuring a 23-year old male passenger in the Honda.  Sandoval, who was not injured in the collision, was questioned and then arrested.

Photo credit: KHOU

75-year old Sara Martinez is recovering from bite puncture wounds after she was attacked from behind by a dog while walking in the 3600 block of San Pedro in Houston. Ms. Martinez was on her way home around 1:40 p.m. when she felt the bite to the back of her leg and saw blood. An ambulance transported her to the hospital. The victim’s daughter Sandra Martinez said the attack was unexpected and totally unprovoked. According to Channel 11’s report of the incident, a young boy lured the dog away after the attack; the child’s family later gave up the dog to animal control. The boy’s father said that it was just a stray dog that they were keeping around.

Information on injury claims related to dog bites

Sara Martinez (75) recovering at home

The dog being surrendered to animal control

Tyler Schlegel (17) is facing charges of evading arrest, racing on a highway causing serious bodily injury and accident causing serious bodily injury after police say the teen engaged another driver in a drag race that turned into a serious car accident.

KHOU reports the teens had just left a movie (ironically, the movie was Need for Speed) when Schlegel, driving a 2014 Ford Mustang, and another unnamed teen driving a white-colored BMW 3-series sedan, began racing on Gosling Road in The Woodlands. At some point the two vehicles made contact, causing the BMW to lose control and leave the roadway, hitting an Entergy electrical box and then a tree. Carlos Cardoza, a passenger in the BMW, was able to extract himself from the passenger seat of the wrecked Mustang and run to a nearby Shell gas station for help.

BMW wrecked in the accident

Schlegel allegedly fled the scene of the crash and parked his Mustang at a nearby fast food restaurant then returned on foot, where he was identified by bystanders as the other driver. Apparently Schlegel then took off on foot when approached by officers, but was apprehended after a brief foot chase.  Cardoza reportedly suffered an arm injury, the condition of the driver of the BMW (who had to be cut from the car) was not reported.

Tyler Schlegel's 2014 Ford Mustang

Friends and family are mourning the senseless loss of Omar Jaramillo, victim of a suspected drunk driver.  Mr. Jaramillo was killed when his red Corvette was struck on the driver’s side by a Chevy Trailblazer SUV driven by Craig Welch.  The wreck happened at around 12:15 a.m. Sunday morning at the intersection of FM 1960 and West Lake Houston Parkway.  Mr. Jaramillo’s mother Irene was a passenger in the Corvette; she was injured and was transported to hospital. Deputies took 23-year old Craig Welch into custody and is facing a charge of intoxication manslaughter; Welch’s bond was set at $30,000 and Harris County public records indicate he is not presently in custody.

Omar Jaramillo’s Facebook page shows a young man with many friends and a passion for cars. KHOU’s story is here.

Photo credit: KHOU

Photo credit: Facebook

An 18-wheeler and a Chevy Tahoe SUV collided in an accident this morning on the North Freeway (Interstate 45 North) near Tidwell around 4:30 a.m.  Three of the four travel lanes were blocked due to the accident, and police closed all lanes to remove the 18-wheeler.  One person in the SUV was injured and transported to hospital.

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One worker was killed and  second worker hospitalized when the equipment they were in made contact with an electrical line in a southwest Houston oil field today. The tragedy unfolded this afternoon on Blueridge Road and McHard. Few other details were included in Channel 2’s report. KHOU’s report states the two men were in critical condition, as opposed to one being killed. A sign on the property were the accident happened lists Maverick Drilling & Exploration. ABC Channel 13’s report states that an oil field crane hit the electrical wire, causing it to fall onto at least two workers.

Photo credit: Channel 2 News

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A Houston Police Department patrol officer was transported to the emergency room by ambulance after a near head-on car accident on Little York Road near Aldine-Westfield. Around 5:30 p.m. a gold-colored Mercury sedan attempted to make a left turn across oncoming lanes, causing the collision. KHOU’s report did not list the officer’s condition, but the ambulance got a police escort to the hospital.

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