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Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in /data/13/1/104/21/1267510/user/1352493/htdocs/blog/wp-includes/theme.php on line 576 The Law Office of Stephen Johnson » 2009 » March
Preliminary autopsy results following a fatal weekend accident at Total Petrochemicals Refinery in Port Arthur show a Fort Worth man died of head trauma.
See more in this on-line video report.
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Accident investigators are awaiting preliminary autopsy results following a fatal weekend accident at Total Petrochemicals Refinery in Port Arthur.
Jefferson County Justice Of The Peace VI McGinnis tells KBMT 12 News the victim is Thomas Whittwer, 24, of Ft. Worth. Judge McGinnis says a preliminary autopsy report is expected sometime Tuesday afternoon.
Whittwer was injured Saturday in an accident involving a crane. He passed away Sunday. Whittwere was an employee of McKinney Drilling Company out of Fort Worth. District Manager Dwayne Fry declined to comment but said a statement may be released later in the day.
Attempts to Reach Whittwer’s father Thomas Wilson have not been successful.
Total spokesperson Pat Avery tells KBMT grief counselors arrived at the plant Monday and are on site again today. Avery says investigators with the Occupational Safety & Health Administration were on site Monday and may still be at the plant looking at the circumstances surrounding the accident.
BRYAN COUNTY, Okla. ― Emergency personnel in Bryan Co. responded to an accident involving a semi and a Rock Creek school bus that injured 7 people on U.S. Highway 70 East, 2 miles east of downtown Bokchito at 3:20 p.m. Tuesday.
Six students and the adult bus driver were on board when a semi ran into the the back of the school bus as it was coming to a stop in the east-bound lane of Highway 70.
O.H.P. says that the bus had not yet come to a complete stop when it was hit, however, the flashing red lights as well as the flip-out stop sign had already been activated.
Three students seated in the back of the bus were ejected upon impact. Two of those students were flown from the scene to Parkland Hospital in Dallas by medical helicopter. They are identified as 16-year-old Jennifer Russell and 16-year-old Chase Thompson.
As of 10 p.m. Tuesday night, Russell was listed in stable condition, but at that time, Thompson was in surgery suffering from head trauma.
The third ejected student was Chase Thompson’s brother, Briar. He was originally transported to the Medical Center of Southeastern Oklahoma hospital in Durant by ambulance, but was soon thereafter flown by helicopter to Children’s Hospital in Dallas. As of 10 p.m. Tuesday night he was listed in stable condition.
Also as of 10 p.m. Tuesday night, two of the other students were still under observation at M.C.S.O. after being transported there by ambulance.
The remaining student actually managed to walk to his house from the scene of the accident, and was driven to M.C.S.O. by his mother. He was treated and released shortly thereafter.
Brad McKnight is identified as the driver of the school bus, and according to the O.H.P. he was treated and released by M.C.S.O. as well. McKnight is also the head coach of the Rock Creek boys basketball team.
The driver of the 18-wheeler was not injured in the wreck, and was not transported from the scene.
O.H.P. says that the semi, including cargo, weighed approximately 70,000 lbs.
None of the students were in the process of exiting the bus when it was struck, since it had not yet come to a full stop.
LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - Five family members killed in an accident near Shallowater will be laid to rest this week.
Funeral services for Rita Gutierrez, Guadalupe Salinas, 8-year-old Fabian Sanchez, 10-year-old Xavier Sanchez, and 7-year-old Isiac Gutierrez will be held at 2:00 p.m. Thursday afternoon at the San Jose Catholic Church in Crosbyton. Rosary will be at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday night.
Donations to the funeral fund can be made in the Gutierrez family’s name at any City Bank location in Lubbock.
Services for 76-year-old Jean Green will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday morning at the Main Street Church of Christ in Olton.
GONZALES, Texas — Two people are in the hospital after a car accident and shooting outside city hall in the City of Gonzales. Witnesses tell us it all started as a fight between two feuding families.
Tuesday afternoon, two cars were involved in a car accident outside the city hall. Five people were injured when a fight broke out right after that crash. The fight escalated and witnesses say one man was shot, and another man was hit by a car. They were airlifted to University Hospital and are in critical condition.
News4 WOAI has learned 17-year-old Damien Navarro is one of those who is badly injured. Also injured in the fight was Navarro’s mother and two other men.
Police have 32 year-old Jaime Gloria in custody.
Witnesses tell News 4 WOAI police are searching for 18-year-old Danny Navarro. (Gonzales Police Department)
Witnesses tell us that police are searching for 18-year-old Danny Navarro. But Officers confirm they are searching for someone, but won’t confirm that they are looking for Navarro.
People living in Gonzales say the Gloria’s and Navarro’s have been fighting since November resulting in three different shootings including this one.
CORPUS CHRISTI — Texas A&M-Corpus Christi could enter today’s Southland Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament without yet another starter.
Coach Robert Robinson said center Myeisha Myles will be a game-time decision when the Islanders meet Texas-Arlington at 6, tonight at Katy’s Merrell Center. Myles was involved in a car accident Tuesday morning.
Myles was heading to meet the team bus and minutes from campus when the wreck occurred. She was given precautionary tests, but everything turned up negative. Myles went to Katy on Tuesday afternoon, but was experiencing soreness in her shoulders and neck.
A&M-Corpus Christi made the tournament’s field of eight as the eighth seed despite losing three starters during the course of the season.
BRYAN COUNTY, Okla. ― Rock Creek Public School students were back in class Wednesday, and buses are running normally just over 24 hours after several students were injured in a school bus accident on U.S. Highway 70 East of Bokchito. First News reporter Rita Kotey looked at the laws regarding school buses stopped on busy roads.
Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Steve Nabors has been a police officer for many years, but he says nothing could have prepared him for Tuesday’s bus accident. Nabors says when a call comes in, and it’s a school bus that level of urgency really arises because they know there are children involved.
Many question why the bus was stopped on a major rural highway. We thought to find out what the state law says about stopped buses.
Oklahoma State Law says buses can stop anywhere, but drivers must look for warning lights and a stop sign on the bus. Motorists must stop a safe distance behind the bus.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a city, street, or county road, or a state or a U.S. highway, but if a school bus is stopped with the lights activated, everybody is required to stop. It doesn’t matter where you are,” Nabors says.
But in Tuesday’s crash the students not only had to get off the bus on the highway, they also had to cross the road to get home.
“That’s why there is a law that allows them to stop, and they are allowed to stop. But it is everybody else’s responsibility to obey that stop,” says Nabors.
Nabors says it’s unlikely the law will change because it is a state and federal law, but he says the best way to keep children safe is for adults to follow the rules.
“There is no clear cut solution than for everybody to pay attention when they are around a school bus, especially at 3:15 to 3:20 in the afternoon. The school buses are well marked, uniformly marked and everybody in the state is uniformly in compliance with their laws on what is required by the public.”
Nabors says there is a fine of $100 to pass stopped school buses. In the case of the driver of the semi Tuesday, he has not been issued a citation or charged with any crime, but as OHP continues their investigation, they say if they issue a citation, it will be for driver inattention.
CORPUS CHRISTI - On the eve of the Southland Tournament, the Islander women are hoping leading rebounder Myeisha Myles will play.
Myles was driving to campus this morning when her car was rear-ended. Medical tests came out negative, but she’s being treated for pain and soreness. She met the team in Katy at around 5 p.m. and will be a game-time decision.
The Islanders were already shorthanded in the post and it showed in Saturday’s 78-61 loss to top seed UT-Arlington, who they’ll face again Wednesday night. However, the Isles have overcome the odds before. They became the first eight seed ever to knock off the one seed at last year’s tourney.
“We think about that also, because some teams, when it gets to that point, may get relaxed. That’s when the best comes out of us because we know it’s time that it’s either won, or done,” guard Shaye Montgomery said.
“I can guarantee you the UTA coach is going to bring that up to her players as well, so they’ll be ready for us. But like I said, you work all season to get to this point just to give yourself a chance to be in the tournament. Anything can happen,” Head Coach Robert Robinson said.
One person is dead after he was struck by a pickup truck while crossing Highway 69 near Nederland.
The accident happened just before 1 p.m. Wednesday on Highway 69 north of Spurlock Road.
Sergeant Chuck Havard with the Texas Department of Public Safety tells KFDM News Richard Mouton, 55, from Port Arthur, was crossing the highway and was struck by the driver of a Dodge Ram pickup truck heading north.
Mouton was flown by Southeast Texas Air Rescue helicopter to Christus Hospital St. Elizabeth where he died at about 2:30 p.m.
Sgt. Havard say the driver of the Dodge Ram pickup wasn’t hurt but another pickup driver who was able to avoid the pedestrian received non life-threatening injuries and was taken by ambulance to a hospital.
A 24-year-old Waxahachie man was killed in a bizarre rollover accident Thursday night in Navarro County. DPS Troopers say Jeremy Robert Sherrell drowned when his 1992 Pontiac Firebird went off a bridge and rolled over onto its top in a creek, trapping the driver inside. The accident happened about 11:00 p.m. on County Road 1100, one mile west of Oak Valley in Navarro County. Investigators say it appeared Sherrell drifted to the edge of the bridge when the vehicle’s wheels went off the edge. The car then hung over the edge, causing it to roll over. Alcohol is also suspected to play a factor in an accident.
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The Texas Department of Public Safety has had enough, and we couldn’t agree more.
Over the last few months, the pages of The Graham Leader have been filled with news we hate to report … Two killed in auto accident, man dies after being thrown from car, the headlines go on and on.
In the last few months, eight people have died on Young County roadways.
In some counties, that number may not be a big deal. In Young County, it is devastating. One of the reasons we choose to live here is because it is safe. Yet the roadways no longer seem to be so.
In at least two of the fatal crashes, the driver was legally drunk. By choosing to drink and then drive, they took their own lives and were fortunate not to take others.
It has been preached over and over — do not drink and drive. Yet, every day people ignore common sense and put both their lives and the lives of others at risk. It is easy to feel invincible behind the wheel of a car, but if you need proof that drinking and driving can be deadly, just look through recent issues of The Graham Leader.
We don’t have a problem with adults choosing to drink socially and responsibly. That is legal, and it is a decision better made by each individual. But when someone chooses to drink and then drive home, we can no longer stand by and be silent.
The bottom line is drinking and driving is a deadly mix. It can snuff out a life in just a minute. The person who dies is not the one who suffers. Those who suffer are their friends and families left behind.
So before you get behind the wheel after drinking ,think about those friends. Think about those who will have to attend your funeral if you don’t make it home. And before acting foolishly, call one of them. Even at 2 a.m., those who love you would rather pick you up than have an officer knocking on their door a few minutes later.
Another common theme in the rash of fatal accidents that have saddened Young County is the number of people who died after being thrown from their vehicle. In the fatal accidents, only one person was wearing a seat belt. That person was killed instantly after driving into a tree at high speed.
The other seven people who died were not wearing seat belts, and in most of the accidents that decision cost them their life. The surest way to die in a wreck is to be thrown from a vehicle. Often those who are ejected sustain severe head trauma which leads to death.
Putting on a seat belt is one of the easiest and quickest ways to protect yourself while driving. It takes just seconds, and it is proven to save lives.
So think about those you love when you begin to drive and take the time to buckle up. It will not only protect you, but it will keep those who love you from attending a funeral.
The Department of Public Safety has vowed to do everything it can to protect the men and women who drive in Young County. Sgt. Jodie Tullos has vowed to increase the number of highway patrolmen on the streets. Those men and women will be looking for drunk drivers and people not wearing seat belts. The purpose is not to punish drivers but to protect them.
We support the DPS and the effort they are making.
Eight people in Young County have lost their lives on our roadways in the last few months. Eight is enough.