Alleged drunk driver kills man trapped in Conroe wreck

Traffic along an eastbound highway in Conroe, Texas was redirected for five hours as investigators pieced together the circumstances surrounding a three-vehicle accident. Authorities have cited one driver for a traffic violation and charged another man with manslaughter for the death of a truck driver caught in the middle of a chain reaction crash.

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, a 22-year-old driver in a 2009 Hyundai pulled into SH 105 traffic from a store in the 16500 block. The Hyundai driver apparently entered the road without yielding the right of way to a pickup truck driver on the main road.

The white Chevy pickup crashed into the Hyundai. The accident pinned the 42-year-old driver inside his truck. People who witnessed the accident gathered in an attempt to free the trapped accident victim from behind the steering wheel.

As witnesses worked to help the driver to get out of the truck, a 2004 Chrysler Sebring crashed into the back of the disabled pickup. The truck driver involved in the first accident was thrown from the pickup by the force of the crash. The driver of the pickup was pronounced dead at the accident scene.

Emergency medical personnel transported the injured Chrysler driver, a 31-year-old Lake Conroe-area worker, to Conroe Regional Medical Center. The Sebring driver was treated for a broken rib and arrested.

The Sebring driver, a Spring resident, apparently told law enforcement authorities that he had consumed several drinks at the home of a friend before getting behind the wheel of the Chrysler.

Following medical treatment, the drunk-driving suspect was escorted to the Montgomery County Jail. DPS investigators charged him with intoxication manslaughter.

Source: kdfm.com, “DPS: Man killed in chain-reaction crash involving drunk driver in Conroe,” Scott Lawrence, Feb. 23, 2012