Archive for November 3rd, 2012

Deputies hit head-on by Chevy pickup on Highway 6 at Little York

Two Harris County Deputies and a person they were providing courtesy transportation were hit head on in a car accident last night at Little York and Highway 6. Two patrol vehicles were stopped at a light in a turn lane facing northbound on Highway 6. A full-size Chevy pickup truck heading southbound on Highway 6 crashed into the front of the first patrol vehicle, pushing it backwards into the second patrol unit. Apparently this was a major impact: one of the patrol units was pushed back 28 feet from the point of impact.

The driver of the pickup truck was a 16-year old male that police believe was driving under the influence of synthetic marijuana. He will be given a mandatory blood draw at the hospital. With him in the vehicle was another person who allegedly asked the 16-year old to drive because the passenger was too intoxicated. Another passenger was a female runaway whose parents came to collect her. The deputy sheriff in the first vehicle hit was transported to hospital with a wrist injury (probably from the airbag) and bruising. ABC Channel 13’s story is here, and includes video.

If the 16-year old was unlicensed and/or intoxicated at the time of the crash, the passenger who asked the 16-year old to drive would probably be liable to the injured deputy for what is called negligent entrustment. That is when a person knowingly entrusts their vehicle to a person who is an unlicensed, incompetent or reckless driver, and the negligence of the person entrusted with the vehicle results in injury to a third party.

The injured deputy's wrecked patrol vehicle

A 16-year old crashed this Chevy pickup into the police car