Man jailed in crash that knocked good Samaritans off 40-foot overpass, Texas cops say

The man accused driving drunk and causing an accident that knocked two men off a 40-foot overpass, killing one, has been arrested, El Paso police said in a news release.

Martin Castaneda, 24, was reportedly weaving in and out of lanes before striking a stalled tractor-trailer., which crashed into a parked GMC truck, which hit the two good Samaritans who had stopped to help the driver of the stalled vehicle. Carlos Lechuga, 35, died Wednesday morning from his injuries and Hector Mendoza, 33, suffered non life-threatening injuries, police said.

Castaneda was booked in the El Paso County jail on a $200,000 bond for an intoxicated manslaughter charge and $150,000 bond for the assault charge.

“The chain-reaction crash was part of a Monday that saw two other traffic deaths on El Paso’s streets and highways,” the El Paso Times reported. A 21-year-old driver was killed when he crashed into a light pole and a 56-year-old pedestrian was hit by a car and killed while attempting to cross I-10.

Monday’s accident was the 68th traffic death in El Paso this year, police said.

This story was originally published December 11, 2019 at 3:34 PM.