Houston Personal Injury Attorneys – Smith & Hassler

Police are looking for a hit-and-run driver who struck and killed a man in the parking lot of the Club Olympus night club in the 9100 block of Winkler this morning. The accident happened around 5:30am this morning. Police say a man was driving erratically in the club’s parking lot: the man had previously been inside the club, possibly  drinking alcohol. He struck a man who was standing in the parking lot then crashed into an SUV before fleeing. The man was driving a full-size black-colored Dodge pickup truck with a lift kit and oversize off road tires. The Dodge truck will be damaged to the left front side. The suspect driver is a clean shaven Latino man in his mid-30’s. Anyone with information on the hit-and-run driver or his Dodge pickup should call HPD or Crime Stoppers. ABC Channel 13’s story is here.

Two drivers were injured in a car accident early this morning. The accident was at the intersection of Pierce and Dowling in Houston. According to police the driver of a Toyota was traveling at a high rate of speed eastbound on Pierce and was running red lights. On reaching the intersection of Pierce and Dowling, the Toyota was struck by a Chevrolet Impala heading southbound. Police said the Impala had the green light when it entered the intersection. Both drivers were injured and were taken to the hospital in stable condition. The driver of the Toyota was pinned inside his vehicle and had to be extracted by heavy rescue. Channel 11’s report of the accident is here.

Channel 13 News is reporting a police chase last night involving a 7-year old and 3-year old child. The sequence of events began just before 9:00pm at an apartment complex on Blackhawk. According to investigators, a husband and wife were arguing so the wife went to a friend’s house to escape the situation, but she still felt threatened by the husband so she called for help. When police approached the husband in his SUV he took off with his three and seven year old children in the back seat. Instead of stopping for deputies, the man fired shots at them. This then turned into a vehicle pursuit on the Gulf Freeway: during the pursuit the man was on the phone with his wife, threatening her. After briefly evading police the man’s black Chevrolet Tahoe SUV was spotted about 20 minutes later. The man had flipped the SUV at the Gulf Freeway and Clear Lake City Boulevard. The news report indicates the children were not seriously injured in the rollover accident.

Did you know…? In a single-vehicle accident where one family member is driving and another family member is injured, the injured family member can still make a claim under the insurance policy on the vehicle, however under the terms of the insurance policy, the amount the injured family member can recover is typically limited to the state required minimum liability limits for bodily injury. In the Texas the current minimum liability insurance all driver’s must carry for bodily injury or death caused to another person is $30,000. If you have been injured while riding in a family member’s vehicle and your family member was at fault, call Houston injury attorneys Smith & Hassler for an explanation of how such an insurance claim against a family member works.

Smith & Hassler’s experienced personal injury attorneys have collectively handled thousands of automobile accident injury claims. If you would rather not take the chance of going it alone in dealing with the other driver’s insurance company, call Smith & Hassler for a no-cost consultation.

An elderly woman died after a crash between a United States Postal Service 18-wheeler and a minivan the afternoon of Friday May 11th. The accident happened at around 3:45 p.m. at the intersection of Misty Willow and Willowplace Court in Northwest Houston. Two people were pinned inside the minivan after the accident and were freed by rescue crews. An elderly woman who was an occupant of the minivan later died at Methodist Willowbrook Hospital. FOX News’ story is here.

Alexander Moreno (24), Jose Aurelio Cantaerero Benitez (48) and David Mejia Bonilla (22) were pronounced dead at the scene of a major car accident at around 7:00 am on Saturday May 12th. The three men were passengers in a Honda Civic driven by 19-year old Misael Esquibel. Investigators say the Honda Civic pulled up to a stop sign at FM 3083 at Butler in Conroe, but then failed to yield the right-of-way to a 1998 Dodge Ram 2500 pickup truck. The pickup crashed into the side of the Honda Civic, tearing open the side of the vehicle and ejecting one passenger into the woods. Investigators say the intersection where this accident happened is dangerous: two crosses nearby mark the scene of other fatal accidents. The driver of the pickup truck was essentially unhurt and the driver of the Honda Civic was taken to Conroe Regional Hospital in critical condition. Channel 2’s story on the deadly accident is here. ABC Channel 13’s story is here. The Houston Chronicle’s story is here.

Ashton Craven, 38, has been identified as the suspected drunk driver involved in a two vehicle accident in Houston that injured a pregnant woman and claimed the life of her unborn child. The accident happened the afternoon of Saturday May 12, 2012: witnesses say Ashton Craven, driving a green-colored Ford Taurus, ran a stop sign around 1:10 pm while driving on Bataan at Jutland in south Houston. The Taurus crashed into the pregnant lady’s Toyota Corolla that was traveling on Jutland. The woman was rushed to Memorial Herman in the Medical Center, and it was determined her unborn child had died as a result of the crash. Ashton Craven was taken to Ben Taub by paramedics: the District Attorney’s office may upgrade Craven’s charges to intoxication manslaughter. The Houston Chronicle’s story is here.