Houston Personal Injury Attorneys – Smith & Hassler

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.

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.

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.

A Jaguar sedan and a Chevrolet Camaro were involved in a major crash on Interstate 45 North at Ritchey Road early this morning. A third vehicle, an 18-wheeler Dr. Pepper truck, was also involved when the big rig’s trailer was hit in the back by one of the two cars. Both the Jaguar and the Camaro sustained major damage in the accident, particularly the Camaro. The crash happened around 3:30 a.m. and temporarily shut down all of the northbound lanes. The drivers of both cars were transported to the hospital and the truck driver was apparently unhurt.

The damaged Camaro

Two vehicles collided head-on at 9:45 p.m. on Sunday March 27th and one of the drivers has been charged with intoxication manslaughter. The allegedly drunk driver was traveling eastbound on W. Mount Houston in a silver-colored pickup truck when he crossed the center line and struck a Chevy Impala sedan traveling westbound. A woman driving the Impala was killed in the collision and her front seat passenger was critically injured. The pickup driver was taken to the hospital, presumably where blood was drawn.

Sunday night’s fatal crash

A woman was rushed to hospital yesterday when a car crashed through the front of the Bon Express drying cleaning business on West Alabama in River Oaks. Channel 13 says that the 69-year old man driving the silver-colored Lincoln sedan, who apparently had some prescription medications sitting in his front passenger seat, mistakenly hit the gas pedal instead of the brake. The injured woman was an employee of the business.

The silver Lincoln being removed

Two drivers were hospitalized after a major crash on US-90 in Missouri City on Thursday March 3, 2016. A man in his 20’s driving a Toyota Corolla crossed the grassy median and collided with a Toyota Camry heading in the opposite direction. This accident has indications of being caused by distracted driving.

A man riding as passenger in a speeding Honda Accord died in a violent crash last night. The wreck happened just past 9:00 p.m. on the southbound feeder road of U.S. 59 near Bissonnet. The Honda lost control and left the roadway, striking a light pole. The passenger in the car was pronounced dead at the hospital but the driver is expected to survive the crash. Police are investigating to see if drunk driving played a role in the wreck.

The wrecked Honda Accord