SAN ANGELO, TX – San Angelo LIVE! reporters cover hundreds of crashes each year. Some are tragic and horrific and some are fender benders but each one affects the greater West Texas area because roadways are damaged and individuals are injured or killed.
Covering those intense stories is not easy nor do professional journalists get used to witnessing damage, destruction or death.
Many of the after hours crashes involve alcohol and/or distracted driving which is tragic and many times innocent people are injured or killed.
Here are the most viewed crash stories from 2019:
1. 2 Dead in Horrific Fiery Crash on San Angelo's Houston Harte Expressway
Police learned of a head-on, high speed crash on the Houston Harte Expressway near Furniture Row at 3 a.m. Sunday morning. Upon arrival, Sgt. Cade Solsbery described a grisly crash scene. “One of the two vehicles in the crash was fully engulfed in flames,” he said.
On the pavement where cars and trucks are usually traversing at the 65 mph speed limit, two bodies are stretched out, under white sheets awaiting a coroner. The father of one of the dead was there, visibly shaken.
Sgt. Solsbery said there were two found dead at the scene, one from each car.
More details emerged in the following days.
2. WATCH: Passenger Ejected and Killed as Car Smashes into Restaurant on Beauregard
One person was killed early Saturday morning in a one car rollover crash at the Peasant Village Restaurant at Beauregard Ave. and Park St. in San Angelo. The San Angelo LIVE! crew was originally alerted when Joe Hyde and Manny Diaz, returning from a football playoff game in DFW via private plane, saw the many emergency vehicles on Beauregard from the air that evening. John Basquez didn't believe Manny when he texted the sighting from the passenger seat to Basquez. But Basquez eventually made it to the scene.
According to San Angelo Police officers there, the driver of a black Dodge passenger car appeared to be traveling at a high rate of speed westbound on Beauregard when the vehicle struck the side of the bridge.
3. Snapchat Video Surfaces of Driver's Video Moments Before Her Fatal Crash
A San Angelo woman was killed in SH 158 near Midland on April 26. Multiple acquaintances of hers provided San Angelo LIVE! with a smartphone video she purportedly shared minutes before the fatal crash.
4. Oversized Load: Giant Windmill Tower Gets Stuck Under Loop 306
A driver of an oversized load carrying what appeared to be a post for a giant windmill for a windmill electricity generation farm made a bad decision at around noon on Wednesday.
Headed eastbound on the Loop 306 feeder road at Southwest Blvd., the driver attempted to execute a U-turn underneath the Loop 306 overpass of Southwest Blvd.
A driver barreled south down Bryant Blvd. in the northbound lanes at around 1 a.m. this morning. At around 25th Street, the driver lost control and drove about 100 feet off the roadway until he hit a pole and the 2000 Chevy pickup rolled another 100 feet back onto the pavement.
Police said the driver was ejected during the roll. He walked to the awaiting ambulance.
6. San Angelo Women Involved in Fatal Crash
Two teen sisters died that night after a crash with an SUV that was traveling on the wrong side of the road.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, on August 7 the DPS responded to a major motor vehicle accident on US 84 near mile marker 294.
When they arrived they saw an SUV that had collided head on with another car. After those two collided a third vehicle, which was pulling a utility trailer, crashed into the back of vehicles.
7. DPS Identifies the Dead in Horrific Head-on Crash Near Tankersley
According to the Texas DPS, the driver of a 2018 Dodge Ram Pickup was traveling northeast towards San Angelo when, for unknown reasons, he crossed the center stripe and struck a southwest-bound 2015 GMC Sierra pickup.
Both pickups were destroyed, from our observations at the scene. The Ram was almost facing the opposite direction in the center of the highway. The GMC was further south, off the north side of the roadway in the front yard of a residence.
Department of Public Safety Troopers, Tom Green County Sheriff's Deputies and Volunteer Firefighters are working multiple weather related crashes Wednesday morning. Authorities are urging drivers to avoid travel on U.S. 87 N. between San Angelo and Grape Creek.
9. San Angelo Man Dies When He Drives Across All Lanes of SH 158 Smashing into 18-Wheeler
According to the Texas DPS, Roberto Ornelas, Jr., 26, of San Angelo, was eastbound on SH 158. At approximately 10 miles west of Sterling City, Ornelas departed the outside westbound lane and crossed into the eastbound lanes of traffic. DPS said he crashed into the 18-wheeler, a 2013 Peterbilt towing a semi-trailer, in the outside eastbound lanes.
The crash happened at 10:30 a.m. Sunday morning.
10. Police: Drunk Driver Slammed Into Transportation Building on N. Chadbourne Injuring Her Passengers
Police believe alcohol and driving at a high rate of speed are contributing factors when the driver of a black Dodge Charger rammed through the transportation center on N. Chadbourne St. at the Houston Harte Expressway.
Sgt. Cade Solsbery, head of the San Angelo Police Department’s Traffic Division, said the driver is facing felony hit-and-run charges. The driver, described as a female, fled the scene, leaving two passengers in the vehicle injured.
11. WATCH: Police Explain How Suspected Drunk Driver's Car Burst into Flames, Closing Loop 306
San Angelo police could be seen giving what appeared to be the driver of a burned-out sedan a sobriety test. Moments later, the woman was arrested and shoved into the back of a police cruiser.
The crash appeared to involve just the suspected drunk driver who crashed her sedan into the guardrail before it burst into flames.
12. Teen Dies After Rollover Crash on US 67
According to Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Frederick Biddle, on July 13 at around 9:00 p.m. the DPS were dispatched to the US 67 just four miles East of Ballinger for the report of a major motor vehicle accident.
When troopers arrived they found a 2012 Cadillac SRX that had driven through a fence and rolled over in a pasture.
Further investigation revealed that the SRX was traveling East on 67 when the vehicle went off of the right side of the road. The driver then turned left and went into a right side skid, through a fence, and rolled over in a pasture. The passenger of the vehicle was ejected.
13. WATCH: Exclusive Video Captures Avenue N Crash
Two drivers escaped injury Monday afternoon in a two-vehicle crash that left a Hyundai Elantra upside down on Ave. N near the intersection of Monroe St.
According to San Angelo Police Investigating officers at the scene, the black SUV failed to yield the right-of-way to the Elantra and they collided in the intersection.
The top 13 crash stories were determined by our readers. These are the most viewed crash stories from Jan. 1, 2019 to Dec. 31, 2019.
Tonight are New Year's Eve celebrations. Don't drink and drive.
Subscribe to the LIVE! Daily
Required
Post a comment to this article here: