One Fatality, Mother and Son Injured in Crash on Highway 158

A two-vehicle rollover on Highway 158 nine miles west of Robert Lee has resulted in at least one fatality. 

A maroon Nissan Xterra and a white Ford expedition were involved in the crash. An occupant of the Xterra was pronounced deceased at the scene.

A West Coke County EMS ambulance was seen speeding away from the crash when reporters arrived. According to officers on the scene, a boy and an adult female who were in the Expedition were taken to the hospital. 

Coke County Sheriff's Deputies and Texas DPS Troopers, as well as Robert Lee VFD are currently on scene.

The call came in at 4:02 p.m.

The westbound lane is blocked and the Sheriff's Department is directing traffic.

Laundry, luggage and tools are strewn on the side of the road near the scene.

Both cars came to a rest on the north side of 158. The Expedition is upside down and the Xterra is lying on its side.

The investigation is ongoing.

Update using information from an official DPS Press Release, 11:15 p.m.

Thursday afternoon, Timothy Lavern Lange was traveling eastbound on Texas 158, nine miles west of Robert Lee, in a 2003 maroon Nissan Xterra SUV. He drove his Xterra off the right side of road into the ditch. Lange then overcorrected the Xterra back to the left and re-entered the roadway and drove into the westbound lane of Texas 158.

Lange again overcorrected his Xterra back to the right causing the SUV to skid broadside and roll over.

Meanwhile, a 1997 white Ford Expedition SUV, driven by a mother with her son as a passenger, was westbound on Texas 158 and attempted to avoid being struck by Lange’s Xterra by steering to the right. The Xterra then struck Harding’s Expedition causing the Expedition to come to rest in the north ditch of Texas 158 facing south upside down.

The Xterra came to rest on its side in the north ditch facing east.

Lange, the driver of the Xterra, died as a result of the crash. Coke County Judge Roy Blair pronounced him dead at the scene. Lange, a white male, 56 years of age, was from Dublin.

The mother and son in the Expedition, Carolyn Hatten Harding, a white female, 41 years of age from Midland, and her four-year-old son Riley, were transported to Shannon Medical Center by West Coke County EMS. DPS described their injuries as non-incapacitating.

At the scene, luggage, toys and laundry laid scattered throughout the ditch, some of which appeared to be that of a young boy.

DPS reported that both vehicles were driving the speed limit of 75 mph. and all occupants of all vehicles were wearing seat belts.

DPS Trooper Jessica Springer was the investigating officer. Texas DPS, Coke County Sheriff’s Dept., Robert Lee Volunteer Fire Department, and West Coke County EMS tended to the accident.

DPS said that the crash occurred at 3:45 p.m.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation.