Wet Roads Snarl Traffic
Heavy rain on Monday contributed to at least six vehicle crashes around the Fayette County that day. Four of them took place on Interstate 10, and three of those happened within a minute of each other, including a hit-and-run.
Trooper Patrick Mladenka with the Texas Highway Patrol responded to a crash that occurred around 2:10 p.m. on Interstate 10 near the FM 2682 overpass west of Schulenburg. Mladenka’s report said Gabriel Ochoa, 59 of San Antonio, was driving a red 2000 Dodge Ram one-ton pickup west on Inter state 10. The pickup was pulling a trailer. A red 2011 Chevy Cruze driven by Jose Luis Najera, 38 of Horizon City, was also heading west some distance ahead of the pickup and trailer.
It was raining at the time. Traffic in front of both vehicles began slowing down. The report said Ochoa failed to control the speed of the pickup and struck the back left corner of the Chevy. Both vehicles came to rest on the right-side shoulder. Both drivers were wearing seat belts and no one was injured.
About a minute later, two wrecks happened on Interstate 10 in Flatonia about 50 feet west of SH 95. A white 2016 Volvo truck tractor driven by Galileo Hernandez-Zamarripa, 45 of Laredo, was heading west on Interstate 10 pulling a trailer. A report from Flatonia Police said the driver attempted to stop but determined he needed more room. Hernandez-Zamarripa steered the rig into the median to avoid hitting other vehicles, but the truck hit the cable barrier. No one was injured. A tow truck pulled the rig from the median and it was able to continue its trip.
A hit-and-run wreck took place nearby around the same time. Gary Lee Thompson Jr., 24 of Cypress, was driving a gray 2016 Ford F-150 west on Interstate 10 when traffic suddenly came to a stop. The report said Thompson was attempting to stop when an unknown truck rear-ended him. The impact pushed Thompson’s pickup off the roadway and into the ditch. He was not injured. The report said the other driver left before they could be identified.
Earlier that morning, a car hydroplaned and crashed on SH 159 between La Grange and Rutersville and crashed. The crash happened around 11 a.m. near the intersection of SH 159 and Windy Hill Ln. A report from Trooper Joshua Berger said a black 2019 Subaru BRZ driven by Alexander Anthony Menconi, 21 of La Grange, was heading west on SH 159. Berger said the vehicle was traveling too fast for the wet conditions. The car slid off the road and through the ditch. It struck a fence with its front left corner. No one was injured.
Another wreck happened Monday on SH 71 near Power Plant Road. A report from Texas Department of Public Safety said Margie Ellen O’Brien, 73 of Fayetteville, was driving a tan 2007 Toyota Corolla east on SH 71. The report said the Toyota hydroplaned on road “due to unsafe speed for the condition of the roadway.” The Toyota entered the south ditch and struck a sign with its front left. The car then struck the south ditch with its front right. The car came to rest in the south ditch facing east. No one was injured.