Dad runs over, kills son who was thrown from truck bed at off-road park, Texas cops say
_fitted.png "A 19-year-old man was fatally run over by his father at an off-roading park near San Antonio, Texas, authorities said.")
A father is facing charges after accidentally running over and killing his son at an off-road park in Texas, authorities say.
Jack Cody West, 47, was “actively mudding” in his Ford F-250 at about 8 p.m., March 30, while his 19-year-old son rode in the bed of the truck, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. Investigators said they believe West had been drinking.
Some of West’s family was gathered that night at 281 Country Club — an off-roading park 17 miles south from downtown San Antonio — and watched as his truck plowed through the mud, according to investigators.
McClatchy News reached out to the off-road park for comment but didn’t immediately receive a response.
But when the truck reached a series of ruts in the course, it started bouncing, and the son was tossed out of the bed and run over, deputies said.
“Video … from a bystander showed the white F-250 truck bounce off a few ruts. This caused the contents of the bed to be tossed out, which included the victim. The truck was then seen fatally running over the victim,” the sheriff’s office said.
“Family and bystanders immediately rushed to begin life-saving measures; however, the victim was pronounced deceased a short time later,” investigators added.
The son, identified as Blake West in a GoFundMe, was “surrounded by his wife, siblings and father at the time of the accident,” it read. Blake West was married to his high school sweetheart, and they had a daughter together.
Shortly after arriving at the scene, deputies placed the father under arrest, the sheriff’s office said.
He smelled of alcohol and his speech was slurred, and he told deputies he had been drinking before getting behind the wheel, investigators said. However, he refused to take a sobriety test, so investigators requested a warrant to draw his blood.
“Elements for recklessness were evident to arrest the suspect for intoxication manslaughter,” the sheriff’s office said. Jack West was booked into the Bexar County Jail on a charge of intoxication manslaughter.