Driver sentenced for killing Arlington man, injuring 14 in crash while evading arrest
A North Texas man pleaded guilty and has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for killing a man and injuring 14 other people in a 2022 crash, the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s office said in a statement this week.
The defendant, 48-year-old Anthony Thompson Jr., had warrants in multiple armed robberies and was fleeing arrest at the time of the crash, according to a search warrant affidavit. His guilty plea included the robbery charges as well as charges of murder and evading arrest causing serious bodily injury.
According to the affidavit, Arlington police officers attempted to pull Thompson over and arrest him on Aug. 27, 2022, and he drove away at a high rate of speed.
Thompson ran a red light and crashed into six cars stopped at the intersection of New York Avenue and East Arkansas Lane, authorities said.
Hector Ruiz-Diaz, 37, was killed in the crash after his vehicle flipped.
Family and friends described Ruiz-Diaz as a caring and helpful person with a playful, blunt personality, according to an online obituary for him.
Ruiz-Diaz was born in Mexico and was one of 11 siblings. He worked at a collision center in Arlington and considered his coworkers to be family, the obituary said.
Tarrant County District Attorney Phil Sorrells thanked Arlington police officers and federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms for their work on the case.
