A driver attempting to pass an 18-wheeler caused an accident that claimed his life and two others Saturday night a couple of miles east of Tarkington on SH 105.
According to Sgt. Erik Burse, a spokesperson for Texas Department of Public Safety, a black Chevrolet pickup heading westbound and driven by a 33-year-old Hispanic man pulled into the path of an eastbound black Chevrolet pickup truck carrying a 56-year-old man and his 57-year-old wife. The two vehicles collided head-on, killing both male drivers and a backseat passenger inside the vehicle at fault.
Inside the Hispanic male’s truck were two other passengers – his 15-year-old son and a 33-year-old man in the right-side back seat. The teen suffered minor injuries and was taken by ground ambulance to a Houston area trauma center. The passenger in the back seat was flown by LifeFlight to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston.
The wife of the deceased driver in the second vehicle was injured and flown by LifeFlight to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston. Burse said she is expected to survive.
The accident closed traffic on SH 105 for more than four hours while first responders removed the people from their vehicles and cleaned up debris from the roadway.
Assisting the Texas Department of Public Safety at the scene were Liberty County Sheriff’s Office, Cypress Lakes and Tarkington volunteer fire department, Emergency Services District 7 (Hardin VFD), Liberty County EMS, Allegiance Ambulance and the Liberty County Fire Marshal’s Office. Smith Towing towed the vehicles from the scene and Neal Funeral Home and Pace-Stancil Funeral Home transported the bodies to mortuaries.
Pct. 5 Justice of the Peace Wade Brown conducted an inquest at the scene and made the pronouncements of death. The names of the victims and photos from the accident scene will not be released until their next of kin have been notified.