Raul Pena, One Other Injured in Crash on WW White Road in San Antonio, TX
San Antonio, TX — October 15, 2022, 36-year-old Raul Pena and another person were seriously injured in a collision on WW White Road in San Antonio.
Authorities say the incident happened around 3:50 a.m. on South WW White near Paula Drive. Preliminary investigation and an interviewed witness suggest a Chevy Suburban was stopped in the northbound roadway near Paula Drive with its lights off. Soon afterward Raul Pena approached from the south in a Lincoln MKZ and rear-ended the Suburban, causing heavy damage to both vehicles.
Pena and a passenger in the Chevy both suffered serious injuries in the accident. It's unclear if the Suburban driver was hurt.
Investigators believed Pena was intoxicated and collected blood samples for testing, which reportedly confirmed he was under the influence of alcohol.
No further information is currently available.
In my experience people sometimes lose sight of some accident details if others are present. Chief among the attention-grabbing words that create that tunnel vision are "single-vehicle," which isn't an issue here, and "alcohol," which supposedly is. Folks read that someone was allegedly drunk and that's pretty much all they need to know to start pointing fingers. However, what if there's more to the story? For instance, if the striking driver really was intoxicated then did a business illegally over-serve him that night? And did investigators figure out why the other vehicle was supposedly stopped in the roadway with its lights off?
All I'm saying is that things are rarely as simple as preliminary reports make them sound. It seems like there are still unanswered questions here, and those answers might change how the wreck is understood—and help determine what (if anything) might come next. I just hope authorities make sure to connect those dots and ensure the final picture is clear; everyone hurt in the crash deserves no less.
