Driver May Face Charges From I-10 Fatal Crash Last Week
Texas Department of Public Safety released new information about the fatal crash that occurred last Monday, Dec. 29, on Interstate 10 east of Schulenburg. One person involved faces possible criminal charges.
Sgt. Darryl Tidwell of the Texas Highway Patrol reported that a vehicle struck a guardrail in the westbound lanes of Interstate 10 around 3:45 a.m. last Monday. The impact damaged the guardrail and left it sticking partially in the lane of traffic. Three other vehicles struck the guardrail in the minutes that followed. The last one was an 18-wheeler driven by 64-year-old Carlos Manuel Diaz Trejos of Houston.
Tidwell said the guardrail either pulled Trejos’18-wheeler into the median or Trejos may have swerved to avoid it. Either way, the rig went off the roadway and crashed into the steep embankment at the bridge across Middle Creek. The truck bursted into flames upon impact.
Trejos died in the crash. Tidwell said possible criminal charges are pending against the driver of the vehicle that initially struck the guardrail. He said investigators believe that driver was under the influence of narcotics at the time of the crash.
Traffic Aftermath
The crash investigation and cleanup shut down the westbound lanes of the Interstate for about 10½ hours Monday. Thousands of vehicles traveling west got off the Interstate at various locations east of Schulenburg in an attempt to detour.
Traffic flooded Hwy. 90 into Schulenburg throughout the morning and into the afternoon. Some travelers went down Holub Rd. Others tried avoiding the crash via Piano Bridge Rd. in Dubina.
Pct. 4 Commissioner Drew Brossmann said he received a report of 18-wheelers on Piano Bridge Rd., which alarmed him because the historic Piano Bridge is not rated to handle such heavy vehicles.
“I went ahead and called the Sheriff’s Office to send a deputy out there and make sure no one was going across,” Brossmann said.
At least one 18-wheeler was seen turning around after encountering the bridge, he said. Brossmann said he wasn’t sure whether any big trucks made it across, but he could not find any sign of damage to the bridge.