Texas Trooper to be Terminated After Roadside Cavity Searches

The female trooper that performed a roadside cavity search on two Texas women will be terminated, said the Texas Department of Public Safety. The two Irving women said of the July 2012 incident as an unconstitutional search without probable cause and are suing Trooper David Farrell, Trooper Kelley Helleson and the director of the Department of Public Safety. A spokesman for the DPS said in a statement on Tuesday: "The Director of DPS has made a preliminary determination to terminate Kelly Helleson.” Though by policy, Helleson will have the opportunity to meet with the director before her firing is final."…

Read More

A woman was injured following a single-vehicle traffic accident early Wednesday in south Lubbock County. The crash occurred at about 8:15 a.m. near Woodrow Road and Highway 87 when Earlean Roberts Johnson, 73, of Plainview, overcorrected her vehicle, causing it to overturn. Johnson was taken by ambulance to Covenant Hospital in Lubbock in serious condition. No further information is available on the crash at this stage. The Texas Department of Public Safety continues investigating the incident.

Read More

A Taylor County Sheriff's Department deputy was killed when his pickup crashed into an 18-wheeler, leaving his 6-year-old granddaughter injured in the crash Tuesday. 50-year-old Deputy William Woodruff was pronounced dead on the scene of the accident which happened at approximately 7 p.m. on Highway 277 north of Abilene near the Taylor/Jones County line. According to DPS, a Mack Truck driven by David Lowewenstern, 60, tried to cross the northbound lane of Highway 277. Lowewenstern stopped in the median, leaving the trailer of his truck blocking north bound traffic, to allow south bound traffic to clear. Deputy Woodruff’s pickup then…

Read More

Snowmobiler Caleb Moore of Krum, Texas, remains in critical condition Tuesday after a crash last week during the Winter X Games in Aspen. The 25-year-old was performing a flip Thursday when he caught the top of the hill that was serving as a landing area and went over the handlebars, landing face first into the snow. The snowmobile rolled over him, but he walked off with help and went to a hospital with a concussion. Moore later developed bleeding around his heart and was flown to a hospital in Grand Junction for surgery Friday. The family said Sunday that Moore…

Read More

One person is dead following a single-vehicle crash early Monday morning in Fort Worth. John Lerma, 29, was found dead on the scene of the accident on the eastbound frontage road of Interstate 30 just before University Drive. It was about 1 a.m. when Lerma was traveling at a high rate of speed and crashed his pickup into a light post. His truck crossed over all lanes of traffic, jumped the curb on the far side of the road before hitting a large freeway light pole. Lerma had one passenger who was not seriously injured and was taken to a…

Read More

A 64-year-old rancher died in a fiery head-on collision early Monday afternoon in Cross Plains. The crash happened shortly after 4 p.m. along Texas Highway 36, between Cross Plains and Abilene. Texas Department of Public Safety said it appeared that one vehicle crossed into the other vehicle’s lane. The two pickup trucks crashed head-on and caught fire, causing severe damage to both. Steven Wayne Pickett, 64, of Cross Plains, who was driving a Ford pickup truck, died in the wreck. His passenger, William Bryan Partain, 36, was transported to Hendrick Medical Center in Abilene for treatment. The crash also resulted…

Read More

Three children from Irving have died Monday, a day after their car stalled along Interstate 30 and was struck by a pickup. The accident happened at about 1:50 p.m. Sunday when a 2004 Dodge Stratus carrying a family of six stalled in the westbound lanes of I-30. The mother, Maria Francisca Vasquez, 31, was driving while her husband, Juan Gonzalez, got out of the car and tried to wave off oncoming traffic. That’s when a pickup struck the family’s vehicle from behind. Grand Prairie police said three of the four children had died Monday night. Maria Gonzalez-Refugio, 12, was pronounced…

Read More

A driver fleed the scene of the accident after crashing his car, leaving one passenger dead and another injured. The driver of the Nissan Altima was speeding as he travelled west on Alberta road at approximately 4:30 a.m. Sunday. The driver then lost control, struck a chain link fence, and hit several trees. DPS troopers said they arrived the scene but did not find the vehicle’s driver. Passenger Edward Gomez, 31, of Edinburg immediately died in the wreck. A female passenger was transported to McAllen Medical and is listed in stable condition. Texas Department of Public Safety continue to investigate…

Read More

A man died after crashing his motorcycle and then being run over by a pickup in rural Upshur County Sunday night. The crash occurred at 7:15 p.m. on Farm-to-Market Road 726 between the intersections of Texas Highway 154 and Farm-to-Market Road 1650 (near Glenwood community). Maxwell Kyle Hardin, 35, of Hallsville, was riding a 1999 Honda Shadow motorcycle with Donna Rene Miller, 36, of Hallsville, traveling south on FM 726 when Hardin swerved the bike to miss a deer. Hardin lost control and ran into a ditch on the right side of the road. The two riders were thrown off…

Read More

An Abilene Christian University student and a pickup driver were killed in Friday night’s head-on crash just outside of Abilene, which also injured five other students. Six ACU students were on their way to the Oplin Community Center for a night of country-western dancing at the popular Grand Ole Oplin, about 25 miles southeast of Abilene, when the wreck happened at about 8 p.m. on Texas Hwy 36 near the Abilene Regional Airport. The Texas Department of Public Safety reported that a pickup truck ran a stop sign at CR 107, on Potosi Road, and crashed head on into the…

Read More