A suspected drunk driver killed a Texas woman and her son earlier this week when he carelessly struck their parked vehicle.
According to police, the accident occurred when the 48-year-old woman, from Simonton, had pulled her car over on Interstate 10 outside of Houston at around 2:30 a.m. to change a flat tire when she and her car were struck by the 23-year-old drunk driver. The woman’s 12-year-old son was in the car when it was hit from behind. The car burst into flames after being struck.
The drunk driver now faces two counts of intoxication manslaughter. He sustained minor injuries in the crash and was treated at a local hospital.
What’s even more distressing about this story is the fact that the passenger in the pickup truck was an off-duty police officer from nearby Katy, Texas. The owner of the truck, the officer is also suspected of being drunk at the time of the accident.
A local TV station identified the police officer and said that both men had been seen at a local nightclub before the accident. The police officer reportedly allowed his friend to drive his pickup truck. The man’s police department had scheduled a press conference for the next day to discuss the officer’s involvement.
No one should have to fear drunk drivers when they are out on the road. The woman and her son, who were traveling to see relatives, should still be alive. And a police officer, who is sworn to uphold the law, should have known better before turning his keys over to someone else who had been drinking.
Source: Houston Chronicle, “Mother, son killed in Brookshire area crash,” Dale Lezon and Robert Stanton, Jan. 12, 2012
