Alleged Drunk Driver Strikes And Kills Another Following Road Rage Incident
A 19-year-old woman was killed over the weekend after she was ejected from the vehicle she was riding in.
KHOU reports that the incident happened on Sunday at the Wells Fargo Bank located near the intersection of West Road and Interstate 45 in Houston.
According to a statement issued by Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, a disturbance was reported at the bank between two men. The two men were arguing in the parking lot of the bank. One man got into a vehicle being driven by Adrienne Sophia Exum, 19., who sped away from the scene.
Sheriff Gonzales said Exum was not wearing a seatbelt and was driving with the driver’s side door wide open. A driver of a pickup truck who was behind the wheel while intoxicated struck Exum’s vehicle, causing her to be ejected. Exum landed several feet away, her head hitting the pavement.
First responders pronounced Exum dead at the scene of the crash.
The pickup truck driver attempted to flee the scene of the fatal crash, but law enforcement officers eventually found and apprehended him.
Houston Police have identified the pickup truck driver as Heriberto Fuerte-Padilla. Fuerte-Padilla was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol above the legal limit of 0.08 percent and failure to render aid after an accident. Police say that more charges could be filed against him.
The two men who had the argument which led up to the fatal incident were detained by police and later released. It is unclear whether either man will be charged in connection to the case or what those charges might be.