West Texas Roadways See Fatal Crash And Terrifying Semi Chase

Two separate roadway incidents took the spotlight recently after a Lubbock man was hit and killed on the street and a man in Midland attempted to ram his semi truck into another vehicle containing two young children.

Lubbock Man Hit by Pickup Truck

According to a release from the Lubbock Police Department (LPD), officers were called to 50th Street and Avenue Q on June 29 just before 10:00 p.m. They were responding to a report of a car accident involving a vehicle and a pedestrian.

When they arrived, they learned that 64-year-old Arnulfo Rodriguez was struck by a pickup truck driven by 19-year-old Joseph Hernandez as he was walking south across 50th Street.

Rodriguez was rushed to University Medical Center with life-threatening injuries where he was later pronounced dead.

As of July 2, no charges have been filed against Hernandez, and the investigation remains open.

Midland Man Drives Family Off the Road

This fatal accident in Lubbock comes just after a man in Midland was arrested for allegedly chasing a vehicle driven by a mother with two young children in the backseat off the road with his semi-truck.

Police from the Ector County Sheriff's Office noticed a yellow Freightliner parked behind a 2012 Dodge Ram truck. They soon learned that the driver of the semi-truck, Fabian Baeza Urias, was operating with a suspended driver's license and was then placed under arrest.

This photo is a similar style to the semi-truck that was driven by Urias:

Photo by Jahongir ismoilov on Unsplash

After speaking with everyone involved, they also discovered that Urias was the father of one of the minor children in the back of the Dodge Ram. He allegedly tried hitting the pickup truck with his semi while both vehicles were traveling at high speeds.

Both the driver and passenger of the pickup truck stated they feared for their own lives and the lives of the two young children in the backseat. They also admitted that they ignored stop signs in order to prevent a collision.

Both the driver and the passenger of the pickup truck wished to press charges against Urias, who was charged with four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, along with the charge of driving with an invalid license.

Fabian Urias was sent to the Ector County Jail on a combined bond of $400,500.