Houston Personal Injury Attorneys – Smith & Hassler

Two people are dead and a man is charged with intoxication manslaughter after a crash on Highway 290 near 34 Street at 2:00 a.m. Saturday October 13th. Two drivers were involved in a fender bender accident when a Ford Explorer rear-ended a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck. The driver of the Silverado and a 64-year old passenger exited the truck to exchange information with the driver of the Explorer. Investigators say that at some point the driver of the Silverado suspected the Explorer driver may have been drunk. The driver of the Silverado went back to his truck to call the police leaving the Explorer driver and his passenger when a Lincoln Navigator SUV slammed into the stopped Explorer and Silverado, killing the passenger from the Silverado and the driver of the Explorer. The driver of the Navigator was taken into custody by police. Channel 2’s story is here.

Sadly Harris County has lost yet another member of our community to a drunk driving accident.

According to various media reports, 21-year old Tomas Ortiz, Jr. has admitted to speeding in excess of 100 miles-per-hour immediately before rear-ending a pickup truck on Clinton Drive at Crown Street in Galena Park at about 10:00 p.m. last night.  Sergeant S. Wolverton with Harris County Sheriff’s Department told Channel 2 reporters that Ortiz reached about 110 MPH when he began to lose control of his vehicle. Ortiz claims he eased off the accelerator at that time and may have slowed to around 75 to 80 MPH when he hit the pickup truck.

When Ortiz’ white Dodge Challenger rear-ended the pickup, the pickup’s driver Elias Hernandez lost control, hit a concrete barrier and went into a creek.  Five people were in the pickup truck at the time of the accident: Elias’ 57-year old wife Laura was killed in the accident.  Two other adults and a 1-year old child were sent to LBJ Hospital in serious but stable condition.  A passenger in Ortiz’ Dodge Challenger suffered minor injuries and was treated and released.

Tomas Ortiz, Jr. was arrested and has been charged with intoxication manslaughter. Channel 2’s report is here. Channel 13’s report is here. Channel 11’s report is here.

Tomas Ortiz, Jr.'s wrecked Dodge Challenger

Elias' Hernandez' pickup truck

Casimiro Campos stands charged with his fifth Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) offense in connection with a crash that killed a 46-year old woman. Campos, 64, was first charged with drunk driving in Harris County more than 20 years ago, the racked up another 3 additional DWI charges. On Thursday May 24th Campos was charged with felony murder in the death of Amelia Perez. The crash happened May 23rd on South Post Oak at around 2:00p.m.  Amelia Perez was riding in the front passenger seat of Campos’ SUV. While other drivers involved in the accident were moving their vehicles into a nearby parking lot, Campos’ Chevrolet Suburban accelerated and crashed into a convenience store building. Campos then drove along the side of the building before leaving the parking lot and hitting the concrete bank of a drainage ditch on Anderson Road. Ms. Perez was thrown through the windshield of the Suburban: she died later at Memorial Hermann Hospital. The Houston Chronicle’s article is here. Channel 13’s story is here.

Casimiro Campos

Insurance adjusters try to settle DWI accident injury claims quickly because insurance companies view these as higher value claims. Don’t allow yourself to be talked into a small, early settlement by an insurance company: call Smith & Hassler and ask to speak to an attorney for a no-charge consultation.