Stella Hill, Betty Jones Injured in Crash with Alleged DWI Driver on SH 146 in Polk County, TX
Polk County, TX — December 27, 2022, 55-year-old Stella Hill and 49-year-old Betty Jones were injured in a crash with a suspected DWI driver on TX-146 in Polk County.
Authorities say the incident happened around 1:35 p.m. on State Highway 146 near Tony Peebles Road. Preliminary investigation suggests a Dodge Avenger was traveling south on the highway as its driver allegedly tried to flee the scene of a prior crash in nearby Livingston. Investigators allege the driver cut abruptly through the northbound lanes in an effort to reach his home's driveway on the other side of Highway 146; as the Dodge crossed the northbound road it crashed at an angle with a Nissan Murano driven by Stella Hill.
Hill and her passenger Jones were seriously injured in the collision. The 20-year-old Dodge driver sustained possible injuries but allegedly fled into his home near the crash site. Police apprehended him a short time later.
No further information is currently available.
Included in the suspect's preliminary charges were two counts of intoxication assault for the damage he caused those ladies on the highway. If blood tests confirm that alcohol was indeed a factor, it seems only right to ensure he faces consequences for that and every other part of his wild ride.
Some may feel that his day in court would be more or less the final word on the matter, but there may actually be more to the story. People don't always realize that DWI drivers who hurt themselves or others may have an "accomplice" of sorts if an alcohol vendor (like a bar or restaurant) knowingly over-served them beforehand. That over-service is illegal and any business engaging in it may be subject to consequences of its own—including liability for the injuries their intoxicated customer caused.
Investigators may have been preoccupied with wrangling their suspect after the wreck, but once he was secured I hope they made sure to find those women a full and satisfactory explanation for accident that hurt them. At the very least they deserve clear answers; anything else would depend on what those answers are.
