$1M+ Lawsuit Erupts When Woman in Enterprise Rental Car Allegedly T-Bones Tanker Truck

OZONA, TX — A West Texas tanker truck driver is seeking seven-figure damages after a Tennessee woman driving an Enterprise-rented Chevrolet Blazer allegedly pulled out from a stop sign directly into his path at a remote Crockett County flashing-light intersection, causing his fully-loaded Kenworth rig to roll over in a spectacular crash.

Fernando S. Valdez filed the explosive lawsuit on October 29, 2025, in the 112th District Court of Crockett County. According to the petition, on November 21, 2023, defendant Melissa Partee Bledsoe was driving a 2020 Chevrolet Blazer eastbound on US-190 that had been rented from Enterprise by co-defendant Tatiana Wilkins.

At the intersection with TX-163 (a through highway marked by flashing yellow caution lights), US-190 traffic faces stop signs and flashing red lights. The lawsuit claims Bledsoe stopped but then failed to yield, pulling into the intersection and colliding with Valdez’s northbound Kenworth tractor-trailer towing a Brenner tank trailer, causing the truck to overturn.

Valdez suffered neck and lower back injuries and is seeking damages over $1,000,000 for past and future physical pain, medical expenses, and lost earning capacity, plus an underinsured motorist claim against Old Republic Insurance Company.

The petition levels negligence against driver Bledsoe and negligent entrustment against both renter Tatiana Wilkins and EAN Holdings, LLC (Enterprise), alleging that Wilkins and Enterprise knew or should have known Bledsoe was a reckless, unskilled, and incompetent driver yet still entrusted her with the vehicle.

EAN Holdings, LLC immediately removed the case to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, San Angelo Division on December 4, 2025, asserting the federal Graves Amendment (49 U.S.C. § 30106) bars any vicarious owner liability against rental companies and emphasizing complete diversity of citizenship.

Old Republic Insurance consented to the removal. Driver Bledsoe and renter Wilkins remain unserved.

Valdez is represented by Rolando Salinas of Knickerbocker, Heredia, Salinas & Salinas, P.C. in Eagle Pass. EAN Holdings is represented by Danny J. Vana of Benjamin, Vana, Martinez & Cano, LLP in San Antonio.

The case is in its earliest stages with no trial date set. Discovery is just beginning, and Enterprise is expected to challenge the negligent entrustment claim in addition to invoking the Graves Amendment on vicarious liability.