Four dead after smuggler crash

A teenage driver suspected of human smuggling may be held to blame for the deaths of four passengers after a crash in which he lost control of his car between the north- and southbound lanes of IH-35 on Saturday night and plowed off an overpass.

Emergency responders arrived at the scene to find that a Chrysler sedan had plunged off an embankment and collided with a wall between Artesia Wells and Cotulla shortly after 9 p.m. on August 3, killing two travelers and fatally injuring two more.

Officers have indicated the vehicle was carrying eight occupants at the time of the crash.

The Highway Patrol office in La Salle County reported this week that a preliminary review of the case indicates there were no officers in direct pursuit of the sedan at the time of the crash.

Officers had, however, attempted to stop the vehicle a short time earlier and reported that the suspected smuggler had evaded them by traveling at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour and had driven some distance north from Encinal into the path of oncoming traffic in the southbound lanes of the interstate.

A report from the La Salle County Sheriff’s Office indicates the US Border Patrol had alerted area agencies of a suspected smuggler in a maroon Chrysler when the driver failed to stop for a routine check.

Encinal Police Department Officer Billy Butterfield later reported seeing the Chrysler on Main Street in that community and attempted to effect a traffic stop. The driver again evaded officers and sped north, according to the report.

Police officers lost sight of the vehicle near the IH-35 rest area at Milemarker 57 and notified the Highway Patrol and the sheriff’s office that the sedan had last been seen heading towards Cotulla. Officers were positioned near Cotulla and were prepared to deploy tire-deflating spikes to stop the car, but the sedan never appeared, according to the sheriff’s office.

Tracking the Chrysler’s possible path, Ofc. Butterfield came across the crash site and reported that the car had been traveling on the highway’s center median and appeared to have become airborne when it reached the overpass. A crash-site investigation has indicated the car had been traveling at sufficient speed to be launched over the road and strike the opposite wall of the overpass, whereupon some of its occupants were ejected.

La Salle County Pct. 3 Justice of the Peace Ernesto Ramirez pronounced two of the travelers dead at the scene. According to the Highway Patrol this week, both were female.

One seriously injured female passenger was airlifted from the scene; others were transported by ambulance to Frio Regional Hospital in Pearsall and then airlifted to San Antonio.

The Highway Patrol confirmed Tuesday that two later succumbed to their injuries.

The driver’s identity has been withheld pending the outcome of an investigation by the Texas Rangers. Officers have confirmed the teen survived the crash and was extracted from the wreckage with the Jaws of Life by the La Salle Fire Rescue. Responders from fire departments in Frio County were also called to assist.

“There are strong indicators that this was a smuggling operation,” La Salle Lieutenant Homar Olivarez said of the case, “based on the number of occupants in the vehicle and the driver’s evasive maneuvers.”