Fatal motorcycle accident in Pasadena, TX: Police say the driver of a vehicle was heading southbound on Highway 146 in Pasadena, Texas when he slammed into the rear of a motorcycle, killing the motorcycle rider. The crash happened around 8:45 p.m. on Saturday August 16th; the identity of the deceased motorcyclist has not yet been released.
Photo credit: Channel 2 News
The driver of a pickup truck caused a six vehicle accident last night that killed a motorcyclist, then fled the scene before the police arrived. The crash happened around 10:30 p.m. on the East Freeway in Houston. A 2006 GMC Sonoma apparently became impatient due to backed-up traffic and decided to drive on the inside shoulder. The truck struck a motorcycle, causing the motorcycle to collided with a 2014 Dodge Dart passenger car; the motorcyclist slid into the center lane of the roadway, while the motorcycle hit a wall and caught fire. The GMC Sonoma picked then rear-ended a 2011 Cadillac CTS; the Cadillac then hit the Dodge Dart and also a 2014 Ford F-150. The motorcyclist was transported to Memorial Hermann Hospital where he died; the two men in the GMC pickup fled the scene on foot.
Houston Chronicle story | Channel 2 News Houston story | KHOU story |
38-year old Adrian Paul Mills has been charged with intoxication manslaughter after a car accident on Galveston’s seawall that claimed the life of a 72-year old man and injured his wife. Apparently Mills was driving his Infiniti QX56 SUV eastbound on Seawall Boulevard when he attempted a u-turn, causing him to collide with the side of a minivan driven by Ashley Boyd whose wife Alice was riding as passenger. Ashley Boyd was pronounced dead at the scene and Mrs. Boyd was rushed to UTMB hospital.
Photo credit: Jennifer Reynolds
At least five people were killed this morning in a collision on Beltway 8 at Wilson Road: one of the drivers involved was driving the wrong directions on the freeway. HCSO deputies said a sixth person was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital and the wrong-way driver was taken to Ben Taub. Click2Houston’s report is here. KHOU’s story is here and reports that the wrong way driver’s vehicle was a flatbed pickup truck; a photograph on KHOU’s web site appears to show a logo on the passenger door of the pickup, indicating it is a commercial vehicle. ABC Channel 13’s report states the victims were four adults and one child. The victims’ vehicle, a white-colored Ford F150, caught fire after the crash.
UPDATE: the wrong-way driver has been identified as Efraim Carmona – Carmona has been charged with five counts of intoxication manslaughter and one count of intoxication assault.
UPDATE 2: Efraim Carmona’s blood alcohol content was reportedly .23, almost 3 times the legal limit of .08, according to an article on Channel 2’s web site. Carmona reportedly did not cooperate with the police investigation and would not answer question, although there were multiple alcohol containers in his vehicle. TABC is investigating to see if Carmona was drinking at a bar before the crash. The sole survivor of the crash aside from Carmona was an adolescent girl who is in critical condition at Memorial Hermann Hospital.
Photo credit: KHOU
Photo credit: KHOU
31-year old Ethiopian national Million Zeghergis is facing four counts of intoxication manslaughter after a two vehicle collision in Alief. HCSO deputies responded to the intersection of Synott and Beechnut at 10:00 p.m. for a collision between a limousine company van and a Honda Civic. Devendraprasad Patel, driver of the Civic, and three rear seat passengers were killed in the collision. A female passenger in the Civic survived the crash. Zeghergis’ bond has been set at $400,000. Prosecutors stated his blood alcohol content was .107 more than three hours after the accident. What appears to be Zeghergis’ Facebook page states he is self-employed and is from Asmara, Eritrea.
Update: a story posted to Channel 2’s web site states Zerghergis was issued a Houston cab driver’s license May of last year. The vehicle he was driving at the time of the fatal crash was a 2009 Dodge with the phone number and logo of the Champion Town Car Company. The driver of the Honda, Devendraprasad Patel, was killed, along with three passengers: Kokila Patel, Ansuyaben Patel and Jayanthilal Bhatt.
Photo credit: KHOU
HCSO mug shot
Two men are dead after an early morning crash, and the driver of the vehicle they were riding in is facing serious charges. The wreck happened around 1:00 a.m. in the northbound lanes of the Gulf Freeway near Edgebrook. Channel 13 reports the driver lost control of the Buick before hitting a light pole and guard rail. The two male passengers died at the scene; at least one of the men was ejected from the vehicle.
Photo credit: ABC Ch 13
49-year old Kevin Wade Wilson is facing serious charges after a fatal collision with pedestrians along Galveston’s sea wall. Around 7:13 a.m. Sunday morning, Wilson’s red-colored Ford pickup truck struck two pedestrians before going over the sea wall. 62-year old Raphael Flajole, in from Lake Orion, Michigan to visit family in Galveston, was killed in the collision. The other pedestrian, 48-year old Shane Sabala, was rushed to the hospital where we was listed as serious but stable condition. According to law enforcement, Wilson was on probation for a narcotics charge; an investigation to determine whether Wilson was intoxicated is underway.
Kevin Wade Wilson
35-year old Pasadena resident Blisha Marrie Puga, pictured below, has been charged with intoxication manslaughter for a fatal car accident 5:15 a.m. Sunday. The wreck happened in the northbound lanes of Houston’s Gulf Freeway near Broadway Street. KHOU’s report says witnesses saw Puga’s Saab swerve and hit a Ford Taurus ; a woman in the Taurus was pronounced dead at the scene, and Puga admitted to police that she had been drinking before the crash. A person of the same name was arrested in late 2012 by Houston Police Department and charged with driver’s license and auto insurance offenses.
Blisha Marrie Puga appearing in court
Five vehicles, including a Fed-Ex 18-wheeler, were involved in a fatal crash this morning around 5:24 a.m. on southbound Interstate 45 just north of Conroe, Texas. At least one person died in the accident which shut down the freeway and had traffic backed up for nearly four miles into Willis, Texas.
Media reports: Channel 11 News Montgomery County Police Reporter
Photo credit: KHOU
Photo credit: KHOU
Joseph Valderas' Honda. Photo credit: Mont Co. Police Reporter
A young boy was tragically killed and his sister seriously injured when an 18-wheeler trucker distracted by something in his cab failed to slow down and struck the back of a family’s vehicle. The crash happened early evening, Friday April 19th on Highway 290 near Mason Road. Channel 2’s story quotes Texas DPS investigators as saying the trucker was looking down at his cell phone at the time of the collision. By the time the driver looked up he had already rear-ended a silver-colored Kia Optima sedan, driven by the boy’s 40-year old mother. Also in the car were the boy, believed to be around 9-years old, and his younger sister. The impact to the Kia was so severe the back bumper of the Kia was pushed forward to the back of the car’s front seat. The Kia was pushed forward, striking a Ford F150 pickup, which then hit a fourth vehicle, a Toyota Camry. The occupants of the other vehicles were injured and transported to hospital.
What a terrible, avoidable tragedy. This family has been forever changed due to something totally preventable: distracted driving.
Driver of the 18-wheeler
A life flight helicopter transported the mother and daughter from the Kia to Memorial Hermann Hospital; the mother is expected to survive, the daughter was taken into surgery for a skull fracture. The boy in the Kia died at the scene.
Officials inspect the silver Kia Optima
KHOU’s coverage of the accident is here.
DPS Trooper Richard Standifer is interviewed
ABC Channel 13 News’ coverage of the accident is here.
Scene of last nigh's fatal crash on Highway 290
The Houston Chronicle’s coverage is here.
The F150 pickup involved in the accident