HOUSTON – A 35-year-old woman is facing a charge of vehicular intoxication manslaughter after driving the wrong way on the North Freeway and causing a deadly head-on crash early Thursday morning, according to the Houston Police Department.
Authorities say the woman was behind the wheel of a black Ford F-150, traveling southbound in the northbound lanes when she crashed into a silver Jeep driven by a man in his 50s. The impact of the collision was so severe that the man did not survive.
Officers say they began receiving 911 calls about a wrong-way driver around 3:00 a.m., and investigators are now working to determine where the woman entered the freeway.
“Based on times of the calls we have At least 10 to 15 minutes. So, looks like from around downtown 45 so not too long depending on speed but based on the different call slips because multiple people did call in given the description of the vehicle going the wrong way. So, between 3:00 maybe to 3:10,” Sgt. Griffiths said.
Investigators say the woman showed signs of impairment at the scene and was taken into custody. She is now being processed downtown.
“Just don’t drink and drive,” said Sgt. D. Griffiths with HPD’s Vehicular Crimes Division. “We say it all the time. No one is exempt from something horrible happening from drinking and driving. If we all just try to be a little more responsible, that’s all.”
Louis Gutierrez, who witnessed the crash, described hearing a loud noise before seeing the wreckage. He says the woman approached him after the crash and offered him money for help.
“I said, ‘I’m not going to take no money. We’re going to help you out of that car,’” Gutierrez recalled. “I told her, ‘You just killed somebody.’ She said, ‘I didn’t kill nobody.’ I said, ‘You see that? There’s nothing left of the car.’”
Gutierrez said he was shocked the woman made it as far as she did. “Because the only way she could have gotten on this freeway is on the other side of 610, 45. She was driving down the wrong side. She was going fast,” he added.
The crash caused major delays on the North Freeway during the morning commute. Police say a third vehicle hit debris from the wreck, and a fourth car may have collided with the wrong-way driver.
One commuter stuck in traffic told KPRC 2 he had been sitting on the freeway for two hours while crews worked to clear the scene.
Investigators are looking into what led up to a deadly crash Thursday morning when a driver was going the wrong way, resulting in a multi-vehicle accident and the roadway shutting down.
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Houston police were called to the North Freeway at Crosstimbers where Houston Transtar reported a total of four vehicles involved, and investigators confirmed at least one person died in the crash.
HPD says a 35-year-old woman who was driving this black Ford F-150 was driving down the wrong side of the freeway and hit a man in his 50s who was driving a silver Jeep, killing him. A third vehicle involved in the crash hit road debris, while the fourth vehicle hit the wrong-way driver.
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Police believe the woman may have been driving the wrong way for about 15 minutes coming from the downtown freeway. Officials say dispatch received several calls about the truck going the wrong way. The woman is facing a charge of vehicular intoxicating manslaughter.
‘Just don’t drink and drive,” Sgt. D. Griffiths said. “We say it all the time. No one is exempt from something horrible happening from drinking and driving. If we all just try to be a little more responsible that’s all.’