Truck driver in fatal I-35 crash allegedly under influence of drugs, affidavit says
The Austin Police Department identified the driver as 37-year-old Solomun Weldekeal Araya. He was charged with five counts of intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle and two counts of intoxication assault with vehicle involving serious bodily injury in connection with the crash.
Arrest made after crash kills at least 5 people, shuts down I-35 in north Austin
As of Monday afternoon, Araya didn't have an attorney listed to represent him in court records. KXAN will reach out for a statement on the accusations when attorney information is available.
Five people died, and 11 people were injured in the crash, which happened March 13 on I-35 near Parmer and Howard Lane. The crash involved 18 vehicles, including one box truck, two truck tractors, two semi-trailers and 13 passenger cars, court records said.
According to the affidavit, witnesses told investigators 'all traffic was nearly stopped when a yellow truck tractor towing a semi-trailer with an Amazon logo did not slow down and plowed through over a dozen vehicles.' Once the crashed into the first vehicle, it 'continued for approximately 1/10 of a mile while striking additional vehicles stopped in traffic.'
One of the vehicles struck was a silver Volkswagen Sedan with four people inside. Among the four in the vehicle were two adults and two juveniles. Police previously identified a baby as one of the victims. They were all pronounced dead on the scene, according to the affidavit. No one has been identified yet by officials, court records said.
A green Chevrolet pickup was also involved in the crash, which had three people inside. The left rear passenger in the pickup was pronounced dead at the scene. That person was only identified as a 78-year-old woman. The driver of that truck has serious injuries, according to Araya's affidavit.
Fatal I-35 crash: NTSB provides second update on its investigation
A driver of a Toyota sedan was also mentioned in the affidavit as someone with serious injuries. Police say he had to get extracted from the vehicle.
An APD officer with the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement (CVE) unit responded to the crash to perform an inspection on the truck tractor driven by Araya. That investigation revealed there were no 'braking issues with the truck or trailer and all braking components appeared operational,' according to the affidavit. The inspection concluded there were 'no vehicle defects that would have contributed to this collision.'
After the crash, multiple witnesses told officials 'one of the drivers was trying to leave.' The witness pointed to Araya's truck, where he was seen 'hiding in the personal cabin area of the truck, peeking his head out from the curtains.' An officer told Araya to exit the truck tractor, and he was detained.
The Texas Department of Public Safety also conducted an investigation, where Araya's Hours of Service (HOS) logs revealed he had 'several HOS violations during the previous 7 days,' according to the affidavit.
Past inspections also documented 'similar HOS violations as well as prior hazardous moving violations' while operating commercial motor vehicles (CMVs), court records said.
Once detained, Araya took field sobriety tests, an evaluation for drugs and an exam. This all happened around 2:15 a.m., which was more than two and a half hours after the crash. This part of the investigation revealed Araya had Central Nervous System (CNS) depressants in his system. Therefore, Araya 'was unable to operate a motor vehicle safely,' according to the affidavit.
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