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HPD cruiser causes wrong way accident on Fulton Street

26
Oct 2012
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Categories: Auto Accident

Early this morning a Houston Police Department officer caused a wrong-way head on car accident, colliding with a pickup truck in a construction zone. The crash happened on Fulton Street at Bennington Street. HPD says a patrol unit occupied by two officers was responding to a Code 1 call and had its emergency lights on when it turned north on Fulton, not realizing the street was one-way southbound due to construction. The police car hit an oncoming pickup truck, sending the pickup driver and one of the officers to hospital. Apparently the underlying matter the patrol unit was responding to was a vehicle pursuit in the nearby area. Channel 2’s story is here.
Hopefully the City of Houston will take care of the truck owner’s medical expenses and the damage to his vehicle. Under Texas law, units of government have immunity from being sued in most circumstances, however the Texas Tort Claims Act provides exceptions to sovereign immunity, including negligence caused by a government employee while operating a motor driven vehicle. If the government employee happens to be a police officer responding to an emergency call with lights and sirens however, the person injured in the accident caused by the police officer would have to show either that the officer did not act in conformity with an emergency action law, or was acting with conscious indifference or reckless disregard for the safety of others. (See CPRC Sec. 101.055 (2) below). That can be a difficult burden to carry for someone looking to recover their damages from an accident caused by a Texas peace officer responding to an emergency call.
Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code Sec. 101.055. CERTAIN GOVERNMENTAL FUNCTIONS. This chapter does not apply to a claim arising: (1) in connection with the assessment or collection of taxes by a governmental unit; (2) from the action of an employee while responding to an emergency call or reacting to an emergency situation if the action is in compliance with the laws and ordinances applicable to emergency action, or in the absence of such a law or ordinance, if the action is not taken with conscious indifference or reckless disregard for the safety of others; or (3) from the failure to provide or the method of providing police or fire protection.

Photo credit: KHOU

Photo credit: KHOU

Off duty police officer Amado Huerta killed in motorcycle accident

23
Oct 2012
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Categories: Motorcycle Accidents

Amado Huerta, 44, a husband, father of five children and 16-year veteran of the Houston Police Department, died in a motorcycle accident over the weekend. Huerta was driving his Honda Goldwing motorcycle northbound on the South Freeway Sunday evening around 8:30 p.m. when a silver-colored Pontiac Grand Am made an unsafe lane change, striking the motorcycle. Huerta was taken to Ben Taub General Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Police say the driver was likely not impaired and the accident investigation is ongoing. Huerta joined HPD in 1995 and worked as a motorcycle officer in the traffic division. The Houston Chronicle’s report is here.

Six hospitalized after car hits METRO bus on Westheimer

22
Oct 2012
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Categories: Bus accident

According to a Channel 11 report, a man and woman were arguing right before their car smashed into the back of a METRO bus waiting a stop on Westheimer at Briarpark in Houston. The crashed happened around 12:45 a.m. The man and the woman in the car were taken to the hospital, as were four passengers on the bus.

Teenager killed in car accident when shoplifters flee Baytown Police

21
Oct 2012
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Categories: Auto Accident Criminal law Wrongful death

According to Baytown Police, suspected shoplifters Jennifer Rene Jenkins (35) and Shannon Joe Chauncey (43), led police on a chase Friday night that culminated in a multi-vehicle accident in which a 16-year old boy was killed.
Channel 2 reports that Jenkins stole a pillow and comforter from a Sears store in the 6900 block of Garth Road, then left the store and climbed into a pickup truck driven by Chauncey. Police then found the couple stealing from a nearby Academy sports store. Once the couple were in their pickup, the police moved in to make an arrest, however Chauncey backed up the truck and struck a police car before fleeing on Garth Road. When Jenkins and Chancey reached Garth Road and Rollingbrook they struck a pickup truck and also a car, killing the car’s 16-year old passenger Shawn Williams and injuring the 17-year old driver, Shay Hollingshead.
Shawn’s sister Tyler Williams told Channel 2 that she learned about the accident via Twitter: that there had been a collision near a 24-hour Fitness gym and that one of the vehicles had caught fire. Shawn was less than five minutes from home where the wreck happened and had just finished working a shift at El-Toro’s To-Go Kitchen. One of the managers at El-Toro’s, Herb Martinez, described Shawn as one of the most polite people he has ever met.
After the crash Jenkins and Chauncey jumped out of their wrecked pickup truck and tried to flee the scene, but were apprehended after a short foot chase. Shay Hollingshead and transported to Memorial Hermann via life flight helicopter in serious condition. Channel 11 report. Channel 13 report. Houston Chronicle report.

16-year old accident victim Shawn Williams

Shannon Chauncey's wrecked Ford pickup truck

Sharon Zakkizadeh and Joseph Seymour victims of Highway 6 car accident

21
Oct 2012
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Categories: Auto Accident

A crash last night on HIghway 6 in Santa Fe, Texas has claimed two lives and left another driver injured. Santa Fe Police Department say 29-year old Carles Orsak was driving westbound on Highway 6 when he rear-ended a Jeep driven by 65-year old Sharon Zakkizadeh: the Jeep rolled after the impact killing Sharon instantly. The Keep crossed into eastbound traffic and hit 58-year old Joseph Seymour’s Honda. Mr. Seymour was trapped in his vehicle and died. Orsak was in stable condition at UTMB; police are investigating the cause of the collision. Channel 2’s story is here. Galveston Daily News story is here. Channel 13’s story.

Driver killed in Hardy Toll Road truck accident

20
Oct 2012
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Categories: 18-wheeler accidents

A concrete ready-mix truck experienced a tire blow out on the Hardy Toll Road yesterday causing the truck to strike the retaining wall and roll over. The driver of the concrete truck died at the scene. After the collision the truck caught fire. All main southbound lanes of the Hardy at Aldine Mail Route were shut down. Channel 2’s story. Information on how truck accidents happen.

Photo credit: KHOU

Esther Anderson charged with 2-year old’s intoxication assault after car accident

18
Oct 2012
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Categories: Auto Accident Drunk driving accidents

39-year old mother Esther Anderson was arrested and charged with intoxication assault yesterday after a single car accident seriously injured her 2-year old little girl, according to KHOU Channel 11. The wreck happened around 4:00 p.m. as Anderson was driving her 2004 GMC Envoy on Carriage Hills Boulevard north of The Woodlands when she lost control and struck a tree on the passenger side. Sergeant Angela Fountain with the D.P.S. said the toddler was not secured in the vehicle by a car seat, safety belt or any kind of restraint at all. In fact a witness who saw the vehicle prior to the crash said the toddler was standing up near the center console.
DPS officers found an open can of Busch beer in the vehicle and believe it was resting between Anderson’s legs at the time of the crash. Due to the child’s injuries, Anderson was subject to a mandatory blood draw: she was held overnight at the hospital and will be taken to jail to face charges of injury to a child and intoxication assault. Anderson’s husband showed up at the accident scene: he was questioned by deputies who determined he had an outstanding Montgomery County warrant for child abandonment: he was taken to jail.
Photos taken by KHOU show a 12-pack of Busch beer in the vehicle, and also where law enforcement apparently lined up several empty beer cans on the hood of the wrecked SUV. A story on the Montgomery County Police Reporter web site states that, according to Anderson’s husband, she had left earlier than afternoon to get a birthday cake for the couple’s 9-year old. No birthday cake was in the car. Car crashes are the number one killer of children aged 1 to 12-years old in the U.S. You can read on the NHTSA’s web site how to check if your child is in the right car seat.

Photo credit: KHOU

Photo credit: KHOU

Wilson Avelar charged after 2 killed in car accident and fire on FM 2978 near Tomball

17
Oct 2012
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Categories: Auto Accident Criminal law Wrongful death

Two people were killed in a car accident and vehicle fire early Tuesday morning on FM 2978 about five miles outside Tomball in southwest Montgomery County. A pickup truck and flatbed truck collided near a curve in the roadway: state troopers say two people riding in the flatbed truck died. The driver of the flatbed truck, 31-year old Wilson Avelar, is in the process of being charged with two counts of negligent homicide according to DPS Trooper Erik Burse. According to Channel 11’s story, the accident happened because the flatbed truck, which was pulling a trailer, was trying to avoid a pickup truck that was waiting to make a left turn, but the flatbed’s brakes locked and the driver swerved, clipping one truck before hitting a Ford F-150 pickup head-on. The flatbed then burst into flames, killing two inside.
According to Section 6.03(d) of the Texas Penal Code, a person acts with “criminal negligence” when, with respect to circumstances surrounding his conduct or the result of his conduct, he ought to be aware of the substantial and unjustified risk that the circumstances exist or the result will occur. The risk must of such a nature and degree that the failure to perceive it constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care that an ordinary person would exercise under all the circumstances as viewed from the actor’s standpoint.

Driver high on PCP kills two in accident at Kirby Drive Shell station

15
Oct 2012
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Categories: Auto Accident Drunk driving accidents Wrongful death

Early this morning a man and woman were killed in an accident shortly after making some purchases at a Shell gas station on Kirby Drive near the Southwest Freeway, and police believe the driver responsible was high on Phencyclidine (PCP) at the time. The man and woman were in a blue-colored Chevrolet Impala and were stopped waiting to leave the gas station parking lot to turn right on the service road when the driver’s side of their vehicle was hit by the suspect traveling at a high rate of speed. The suspect’s vehicle appears to be an Impala also, only black. The victims were killed instantly. Police say the driver who caused the accident seemed to have little comprehension of what happened: he was taken to Ben Taub to be checked out and will face two counts of intoxication manslaughter. Channel 2 coverage. Channel 13 coverage. Channel 11 coverage.

Photo credit: KHOU

The victims were leaving this Shell station at Kirby Drive and 59

Two killed in drunk driving accident on Highway 290 at 34 Street

14
Oct 2012
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Categories: Drunk driving accidents Wrongful death

Two people are dead and a man is charged with intoxication manslaughter after a crash on Highway 290 near 34 Street at 2:00 a.m. Saturday October 13th. Two drivers were involved in a fender bender accident when a Ford Explorer rear-ended a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck. The driver of the Silverado and a 64-year old passenger exited the truck to exchange information with the driver of the Explorer. Investigators say that at some point the driver of the Silverado suspected the Explorer driver may have been drunk. The driver of the Silverado went back to his truck to call the police leaving the Explorer driver and his passenger when a Lincoln Navigator SUV slammed into the stopped Explorer and Silverado, killing the passenger from the Silverado and the driver of the Explorer. The driver of the Navigator was taken into custody by police. Channel 2’s story is here.

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