A pickup truck driver somehow ended up driving into oncoming traffic on the Hardy Toll Road in Houston last night, eventually crashing head-on into a tow truck. The pickup was driving northbound in the southbound lanes, the crash happened right around midnight. Fortunately both drivers are injured but expected to survive.
The alleged wrong-way driving pickup
Houston Police Department Officer James Combs remains jailed on a charge of intoxication manslaughter after a head-on collision claimed the life of single father Brian Manring.
Investigators say that Combs’ blood alcohol content was more that twice the legal limit when he crossed the center line on Beechnut in Fort Bend County and his white Chevy Tahoe SUV struck Manring’s silver Corvette. The crash happened around 6:30 a.m. on Friday August 12th. After the crash Combs refused to take a field sobriety test. Combs’ blood was later drawn at a hospital and his BAC was reported to be 0.17. In Texas a person is legally intoxicated in they operate a motor vehicle with a BAC of .08 or greater.
Brian Manring’s Facebook page is populated with pictures of his young daughter. How sad that this little girl is now forever without her Dad.
Brian Manring’s wrecked Corvette
A chain reaction car accident injured two drivers in the Cypress area last night, including a Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy. According to KHOU the crash started around 10:20 p.m. when a red Toyota Camry traveling eastbound on FM 1960 crashed into the rear of a Chevy Cruz. The Chevy was left disabled with its lights off in a travel lane when seconds later the HCSO patrol vehicle struck the Chevy from behind, knocking it into opposing lanes.
Both the driver of the Chevy and the Deputy were taken to hospital, the Deputy with possible broken bones. At Smith & Hassler we always advice against persons without legal representation giving statements to insurance companies, but that is particularly true of chain reaction collisions like these.
12-year old Brein Bullock was tragically killed and her 35-year old mother Leah Bullock was seriously injured when a Texas Disposal Systems truck struck a highway overpass bridge in Sealy, TX yesterday.
The truck was traveling on Highway 36 around 10:00 a.m. with the trailer boom raised when it struck an Old Highway 90 bridge. The rubble fell onto the Bullock family’s white-colored car. Brein, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, was dead at the scene. Leah was transported by helicopter to Memorial Hermann Hospital. Also in the vehicle was 9-year old Breanbon Gardner who was riding in the back seat and appears to have been uninjured.
There is a bridge height warning sign in place that the truck passed through prior to hitting the bridge. A witness driving behind the Texas Disposal Systems truck saw the vehicle hit the warning sign and keep going, and was filming the truck with a GoPro camera when the incident happened. The truck driver has been identified as 72-year old Carl Weige.
A fatal accident happened on FM 1960 at Cypresswood around 1:40 p.m. last night. A woman driving a white delivery van with Viking Delivery on the side crashed into the rear of a red Dodge Ram pickup truck that was stopped in the roadway of FM 1960 for reasons not yet known. The front of the van sustained major damage and the woman driving was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to witnesses a serious accident was caused by a pickup truck that ran a red light on FM 2920. A male driver and female passenger were heading southbound on Meadowhill traveling approximately 50-60 MPH when the pickup collided with a Chevy Tahoe SUV traveling on FM 2920. The female passenger in the pickup was taken to hospital in critical condition and two occupants in the SUV were also transported to the hospital.
ABC Channel 13 has reported a crash late last night that injured three men. It was a single vehicle accident on Hollydale Drive in Houston. The report is that the vehicle, which appears to be a white-colored Buick crossover, was traveling at considerable speed when a change in the road surface caused a loss of control; the vehicle then struck two parked cars and flipped over. The driver was ejected from the vehicle and is in critical condition, the two passenger were transported to the hospital for treatment. Harris County Sheriff’s Office investigators are looking into whether alcohol-impairment was a factor in the crash.
A man was loading a lawnmower onto his truck when a speeding driver struck a parked car, pushing it into the man and seriously injuring him. The accident happened late Wednesday evening in the 10,000 block of Pine Cone Lane in Houston, and was witnessed by the man’s son David Mena, who was interviewed by Channel 13. The 20-year old driver who was at fault for the crash fled the scene, leaving the victim unconscious. The victim was transported by Life Flight helicopter in critical condition, and police were able to arrest the suspect who had been chased by the victim’s neighbors.
30-year old Arnesia Washington has been charged with murder after a multi-vehicle accident this weekend that claimed the life of a motorcyclist. Channel 13 reports that Washington was driving on the 610 West Loop in Houston with two young children as her passengers around noon Saturday when she rear-ended the motorcycle. At the time she was being followed by two other motorists whose vehicles she has previously struck in two separate hit-and-run accidents.
Washington appearing in court
Reportedly Washington also attempted to flee the scene after striking the motorcyclist but was blocked-in by the vehicles that were following her. Washington has previously been charged in Harris County with possession of a controlled substance, and is believed to have been under the influence of hydrocodone, a prescription painkiller, at the time of the fatal crash. Blood results are pending. Normally this type of accident (which is all too common in Houston) would be charged as intoxication manslaughter, but Washington has been charged with felony murder because she had the young children in her vehicle.
The deceased motorcyclist has been identified as Steven Rudoff who is from Sugar Land. Mr. Rudoff leaves a wife and three children.
One driver is dead and another is possibly facing failure to stop and render aid and intoxication manslaughter charges after a crash on Hiram Clarke near Orem at 2:00 this morning. KHOU reports that a gray-colored Infiniti was traveling around 80 MPH southbound on Hiram Clarke when it rear-ended a white-colored Pontiac Sunfire that may have been turning at the time. The Pontiac was struck so hard that the driver was thrown out of the vehicle through the rear window. The Infiniti traveled about a block before coming to a stop due to mechanical failure.
