FORT WORTH -- An Arlington woman accused of causing a fatal collision and endangering her 6-month-old daughter while driving the wrong way on Interstate 35W late Friday was seen by a police officer driving into heavy traffic with her hands behind her head, according to a police report.
Brittany D. Burton, 25, remained in the Mansfield Jail on Monday, facing charges of intoxication manslaughter and endangering a child with bail set at a combined $200,000.Investigators were still awaiting blood-alcohol test results Monday, police spokeswoman Sharron Neal said."When officers came in contact [with her], they knew immediately that she had been drinking," Neal said. "They could smell it."Police say a Fort Worth DWI officer spotted Burton driving her Jeep Liberty north in the southbound lanes of the 2700 block of I-35W around Berry Street shortly before midnight Friday. With emergency lights on and his siren blaring, officer C. Norman traveled in the northbound lanes beside the wrong-way driver, trying unsuccessfully to get the driver to stop."The [driver] would not slow down, nor would the [driver] pull over," the officer stated in an offense report. "Upon approaching Rosedale, I observed the driver with her arms bent at the elbows and her hands behind her head as traffic was getting heavier."Trying to avoid the Jeep, Minho Park, 32, swerved his Honda Civic onto the freeway's inside shoulder when his car was struck from behind by a Ford pickup, whose driver was also attempting to avoid the Jeep. Both men had gotten out of the vehicles to assess the damage when a Ford van, driven by 51-year-old Bobby Brooks, plowed into the wreckage while also attempting to get out of the Jeep's way.Brooks said he had eaten dinner with some friends in Grapevine and was headed back to his Fort Worth home when he spotted the Jeep's headlights coming in his direction.Brooks said he swerved, catching only a glimpse of the Jeep driver as she passed by."It looked like she had her window rolled down like she was waving at somebody or something," he said.He said he did not see the wrecked Civic and pickup on the highway's shoulder until he was on top of them, plowing into the Civic."It just kind of happened in a flash," Brooks said.Minho was able to escape injury after jumping over the highway's concrete median, police said.The pickup driver, however, was struck by one of the vehicles and was pronounced dead at the scene. He was identified Tuesday as Jeffery Hogan, 47, of Fort Worth. The Tarrant County medical examiner's office has ruled his death a homicide."I pulled over on the side of the road and walked over to the scene," Brooks said. "There was a man lying on the side of the road. ... I never saw him at all. He wasn't moving at all."Authorities were still trying Monday to reach the 47-year-old man's next of kin, said Linda Anderson, a spokeswoman with the Tarrant County medical examiner's office.Police say that despite the vehicle swerving out of her way, Burton continued north in the southbound lanes, prompting the officer to get on his public address system and yell at her to pull over. In the 2300 block of the freeway, Burton finally stopped, coming within 10 feet of a head-on collision with a 18-wheeler, the report states.Inside the Jeep, Neal said officer found Burton's 6-month-old daughter in a child seat but not completely restrained.Neal said the child was taken to a Fort Worth hospital to be checked over, then released to the custody of the baby's father. Child Protective Services have been alerted about the case, Neal said.Brooks said he grapples with guilt that his attempt to avoid the oncoming Jeep led to another man's death."I feel horrible about it, [wondering] if there was something I could have done to avoid it," Brooks said.Brooks said he found it unbelievable when he was later told by police that the woman had her baby daughter in the Jeep."I was pretty shocked," Brooks said.Deanna Boyd, 817-390-7655Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
