Posted on October 05, 2012 in Uncategorized

A 15-year-old South Texas boy facing nine counts of murder crashed a minivan loaded with 19 people in April because he was bumped by a pursuing Border Patrol vehicle, his lawyer said Thursday.

The agent involved in that pursuit testified Thursday at a detention hearing in juvenile court that he only came upon the scene shortly after the April 10 crash. That countered testimony two days earlier by a Palmview resident who said he witnessed the wreck and saw the Border Patrol vehicle bump the fleeing minivan.

Ultimately, Hidalgo County district Judge Jesse Contreras decided the boy, who is not being identified because he is a minor, should stay in detention pending trial.

“The van was not driving 100 mph, it was not the reckless driving of this young man and the purported behavior, but in fact it was a direct result of the contact, of being run off the road by the Border Patrol agent that led to these tragic deaths,” Jaime Aleman, attorney for the boy, told the judge Thursday.

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 Posted on October 02, 2012 in Uncategorized

Last Friday, police released more details on a crash that killed one teen and injured four others when a car broke through the seawall last weekend.

Irvin Ruiz, 18, the front passenger, died at the scene, and four other teenagers were hurt in the 12:08 a.m. Sunday crash in the 100 block of Seawall Boulevard near East Beach, Galveston police said.

Luis Aguirre, 16, of Texas City was hospitalized and listed in critical condition on Monday at the University of Texas Medical Branch, but his condition Friday wasn’t immediately known. The other occupants had non- life-threatening injuries.

The teens were leaving a gathering on East Beach and were traveling west on the seawall, police Lt. Michael Gray said. A police report released Friday states the Mustang traveled at a high rate of speed on the dry road.

Witnesses said the Mustang changed lanes from left to right, and the driver lost control a short time later. The car started a side skid then went off the seawall, and all the passengers were thrown from the car, the report states. It is unclear whether the Mustang was a convertible.

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 Posted on September 30, 2012 in Uncategorized

Within a week, Texas saw multiple injuries as there was at least one car crash where three people got hurt, and an elderly man also got attacked by pitbulls while he was mowing his lawn. The Dallas Morning news reported stories about both the crash and the dog attack. The car crash that injured three people took place when a car drove the wrong way on an Airport Freeway flyover ramp and hit a pickup truck. According to Irving police, the school security vehicle was headed west when it was hit head-on by the car going wrong way on the one-lane ramp. Both drivers and a passenger in the wrong-way vehicle were taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital, and their injuries were thought to be life-threatening, said police spokesman John Argumaniz. The other accident, two dogs attacking an elderly man took place in Oak Cliff. Leslie Wilson, 73, was mowing the grass in an alley between two houses when he got attacked by his neighbor’s two pit bulls. The dogs bit Wilson’s arms, legs, face, and head. Wilson got away when a neighbor came to his rescue and helped him escape. He was taken to Methodist Dallas Medical Center, and his condition is unknown. The dogs were taken into custody of Dallas Animal Control. Their fate is also unclear. In both of these cases there are clear victims, who got injured. If you or a loved one have fallen victim to a similar accident, you might be eligible for compensation. A skilled injury attorney can determine if you should receive compensation for your ordeal and help you through it. Contact an expert New Braunfels injury attorney today.

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 Posted on September 27, 2012 in Uncategorized

New Braunfels police Captain John McDonald told San Antonio Express-News that Eugene Sneed, 44, “originally agreed to turn himself in after he was made aware of the arrest warrant.” Sneed, a former Christian school basketball coach, was been wanted since mid-September on a charge of having “an improper relationship with a student.” Sneed turned himself in at the Bexar County Jail after an interview with police in which he admitted to having sexual contact with a 17-year-old girl at New Braunfels Christian Academy. He is being held on charges of a second-degree felony, and his bail was set at $75,000. In a study published by the U.S. Center for Disease Control, 20 percent of female college students said that she had been raped, or forced to submit to sexual intercourse against her will. In 2000, 246,000 women “survived rape and sexual assault.” According to OneInFourUSA.org, this “computes to 28 women every hour.” Between 62 and 84 percent of survivors knew their attacker. Some people may say that the inappropriate relationship between the New Braunfels teacher charged and the student involved is likely to not have been rape. because the girl was of legal age. According to the U.S. Federal Courts, in Texas, indecency with a child or sexual assault charges are only applicable if the victim is less than 17 years old. However, by Texas state law, teachers carry a special responsibility to report any endangerment of a child to the state. Because the accused in this case was, in fact, a teacher, the case will be handled differently than if he was not. Winning a personal injury lawsuit when faced with charges similar to those McDonald is facing isn’t an easy feat. But with a qualified and dedicated personal injury attorney, your life doesn’t have to be shadowed by charges such as this. Don’t go through it alone. Contact an experienced New Braunfels personal injury lawyer today.

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 Posted on September 24, 2012 in Uncategorized

In October 2011, an accident so severe occurred in I-35 that it shut down traffic for more than four hours, causing major traffic delays. According to New Braunfels KGNB.am, 25-year-old Aric Thane Whittaker “now faces a third degree felony charge of Intoxicated Assault for allegedly cutting off a tandem trailer Fed-Ex truck,” the initial occurrence that caused the massive pile-up. According to KGNB, Whittaker’s Ford “first hit the center concrete divider and then swerved back across all lanes of traffic.” When this happened, the semi and the truck collided. The momentum caused one of the Fed-Ex trailers to go “skidding across the mainlines of traffic.” The Fed-Ex big rig driver sustained serious injuries and was airlifted to a San Antonio-area hospital. Because Whittaker was intoxicated when the accident occurred, he was arrested and then posted a $30,000 bond. The charge he faces is punishable by two to ten years in prison. According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, in 2010, 10,228 people were killed and about 350,000 injured, such as this Fed-Ex driver, in a drunk driving accident. MADD estimates that an annual $132 billion is spent each year recuperating costs incurred by drunk driving accidents. In Texas, more than 45 percent of all driving fatalities are caused by drunk drivers. Perhaps because drunk driving accidents are so common—or in spite or it—insurance companies will often offer an injured party a quick and easy settlement to keep their costs low. Yet without his day in court, people such as the Fed-Ex driver may never be able to fully recuperate the financial losses incurred by the I-35 accident. If you or someone you know has been injured in a drunk driving accident, don’t go through it alone. Contact a dedicated New Braunfels personal injury attorney today.

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 Posted on September 20, 2012 in Uncategorized

The body of New Braunfels resident Ricardo Rodriguez, 37, was found in the exit ramp area of a southbound I-35 access road, according to KGNB News Radio. He was allegedly the victim of a hit and run accident in the Bexar County neighborhood. A Bexar County police officer found the body while on a normal patrol and contacted investigators. According to KGNB, investigators traced debris found at the site to a Nissan Versa parked at a nearby apartment complex. Rodriguez was apparently “walking on the right side of the road while attempting to ross the Wonder World overpass” when he was struck. The impact “caused him to slide into the access road.” 21-year-old Jennifer McKernan was charged with failure to stop and render aid, but posted the $10,000 bail. She might face further charges because the accident led to Rodriguez’s death. Hit and run laws in Texas are stringent. According to DeadlyRoads.com, in the event of an accident, the operator of the vehicle is required to “stop the vehicle at the scene of the accident or as close to the scene as possible, or immediately return to the scene of the accident if the vehicle is not stopped at the scene.” Any operator who does not comply with these provisions faces imprisonment in the “institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for not more than five years or confinement in the county jail for not more than one year,” in addition to a maximum fine of $5,000. There is no limitation in Texas for murder or manslaughter. If McKernan is found guilty, she could face both a fine and jail time. If you or a family member has been injured or killed by a hit and run accident, you’re most likely eligible for compensation. Contact an experienced New Braunfels personal injury lawyer today.

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 Posted on September 17, 2012 in Uncategorized

A man was arrested in early September for a fatal three-car crash that occurred in downtown New Braunfels, according to KGNB News Radio. Matthew David Hickey, of Marion, “was allegedly intoxicated and behind the wheel of his Toyota Tundra a little after 6:15pm.” According to KGNB, Hickey was “traveling at a high rate of speed when he came around the corner, lost control of the truck, and drifted into the opposite lane of traffic.” Hickey managed to sideswipe a pickup truck before ramming head-on into a Ford Ranger.

Petra Hernandez, 61, of New Braunfels, was a passenger in the Ranger and died of her sustained injuries after being airlifted to University Hospital. A passenger in Hickey’s truck, a 25-year-old San Antonio man, was also injured and airlifted. Hickey was charged with multiple charges, the “most serious of which is one count of 2nd degree felony Intoxication Manslaughter.” If convicted, he faces two to 20 years in prison.

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 Posted on September 14, 2012 in Uncategorized

A 32-year-old family man was killed when his car crashed with a MetroRail train, reports the Austin Statesman. Jeremy Barta was taking his two children to school when his car stopped on the tracks of a crossing near the Loop 1 tollway. The engineer of the approaching train did not hit the brakes immediately after spotting Barta’s Ford Taurus, but instead waited, expecting that the car would move out of the way. However, for unknown reasons the car did not do so. After realizing this, the engineer began emergency braking procedures and sounded the horn and bells, but the train was already too close to the car and could not be stopped. Barta’s children were injured in the crash, but are expected to survive.

The engineer was questioned by a police investigator. He claims that although the car was not moving, he thought it would move out of the way. He did not notice whether the car was stuck or not, but told the police that Barta was not looking in the direction of the train.

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 Posted on September 11, 2012 in Uncategorized

A pick-up truck driver, followed by a tractor-trailer driver, was headed west on 410 late Sunday evening when both drivers moved into the left lane in order to pass a slow-moving vehicle. Upon moving into the left lane, the pick-up driver observed a second pick-up truck heading east the wrong way against traffic. Attempting to avoid a head-on collision, the driver began moving into the right lane, but the oncoming truck clipped the left side of the pick-up truck and then proceeded to crash into the tractor-trailer. The impact killed the eastbound pick-up truck driver instantly. Fortunately, the drivers and passenger in the westbound vehicles did not suffer serious injuries.

According to the San Antonio Express-News, Bexar County has more wrong-way crashes than any other county in the state. There were at least 136 wrong-way crashes in Bexar County between 2007 and 2011, which injured 138 people and killed almost 30 people.

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 Posted on September 08, 2012 in Uncategorized

According to a recent San Antonio Express-News article, a Corpus Christi woman who participated in an experimental hepatitis drug trial sponsored by drug manufacturer Bristol-Myers Squibb and drug trial administrator Alamo Medical Research suffered such serious heart damage due to the drug that she is now in need of a heart transplant. Janet Schaefer Vella, a nurse at Bay Area Hospital, found out that she was infected with Hepatitis C in spring, 2012. Seeking to remain a pediatric nurse, Vella sought a cure for the disease through the clinic drug trial. The drug trial involved an experimental hepatitis drug commonly referred to as BMS-986094.

Soon after Vella began taking the drug, her test results became abnormal, but Alamo doctors advised her to continue taking the drug. On July 28, 2012, however, Vella became ill, and she discovered that she was on the verge of both heart and kidney failure.

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