Driver accused in death arrested again
The driver accused of shooting at three egg-throwing teens before a deadly New Year’s Day wreck has been arrested a second time for a traffic-stopping stunt under Houston’s iconic “Be Someone” bridge.
Christopher Lopez, 48, turned himself in early Friday on a single count of obstructing a highway, just hours before he appeared in court on charges stemming from the north Houston crash that killed a woman.
Lopez’s vehicle, the same 1971 Lincoln Continental he allegedly used to chase the 14-yearold driver, was featured in an unauthorized photo shoot on Interstate 45 at Interstate 10, according to court records.
His vehicle and about a dozen other polished rides, known in Houston as slabs, participated in the Dec. 2 incident, and he was one of at least six people charged.
“If people continue to do this, somebody’s going to get seriously hurt or lose their life,” said Sean Teare, chief of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office Vehicular Crimes Division. “It’s all of our hopes that these arrests will signal to anyone that decides to do this, we’re not going to tolerate it anymore.”
The new misdemeanor case against Lopez will have no bearing
on the manslaughter charge stemming from the crash, Teare said.
Lopez and his attorney quickly left the courtroom Friday, staring ahead and declining to comment. Lopez has posted bail on the obstruction charge and is slated to return to court March 27 on the manslaughter charge.
Court records indicate that the Lonestar Slab club members posed their custom cars under the graffiticovered landmark for more than 10 minutes, bringing traffic near the busy interchange to a halt.
Video of the shutdown garnered more than 19,000 views on a social media account associated with the club, which Lopez cofounded in June 2018, according to county records.
Annoyed motorists, some of whom were unable to squeeze by the vehicles, honked their horns in protest, the video shows. A handful of the trapped drivers dialed 911 to report the traffic block around 1:23 p.m. that Sunday, according to law enforcement sources.
“Apparently a bunch of cars keep stopping to take selfies somewhere for something,” a dispatcher said, according to police radio traffic of the incident.
An officer radioed that the cars near the Milam exit had “large spokes coming out of the wheels.”
“They’re putting on a car show that has stopped traffic to take pictures on the freeway,” the officer said.
‘You mad?’
A Houston Police Department investigator used video clips from Instagram users Kandy_Red_Bread and EspinoHTX to identify the drivers by their license plates, according to court records.
“Sorry About The Traffic We Just Had A Little Complication But We All Good Now,” a caption for Kandy_Red_Bread’s video read. The account went private Thursday morning.
A purple pickup with cone-shaped metal rims and #EspinoHTX spray painted on the side, was pictured. The message “You mad?” was spray painted onto the back of the truck for stuck drivers to read.
Five more people, including the man believed to be the driver of the purple truck, Eduardo Espinosa, have been arrested in connection with the case since Thursday, according to law enforcement sources.
Espinosa was booked into the Police Department Southeast Jail on Friday, records show, in addition to Josue Iracheta, Walter Williams, Alexies Stephens and Joseph Deboest. The five have been charged with obstructing a highway.
HPD spokesman Victor Senties said Friday that he was unable to comment on the arrest other than to say it is “an active investigation.”
The Lonestar Slab members met up along a grassy field at Fulton and Burnett, according to a series of clips titled “I-45 Shutdown” on Instagram.
The group soon lined up single-file about 12:30 p.m. at Love’s Gas Station in the 200 block of Patton, court papers show. The convoy, with Lopez’s Continental in the back, drove about 3 miles to the Union Pacific Railroad overpass, which was first emblazoned with the “Be Someone” message in 2012.
Some of the footage appears to have been recorded from inside Lopez’s vehicle.
Lopez and “the rest of the car club ‘Lonestar Slabs’ put many lives at risk for serious bodily injury and could have caused serious bodily harm or death to the public,” according to investigators.
Another event planned?
The group was planning another traffic stop Jan. 20 to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, according to law enforcement sources.
Lopez’s Continental was reportedly involved in the Jan. 1 road rage incident that led to the death of 45-yearold Silvia Zavala.
A trio of teens chucking eggs from a GMC Acadia took aim at Lopez’s vintage car, and he reacted by chasing them and firing a semiautomatic pistol, according to authorities. The teens ran a red light and hit Zavala as she entered Aldine Mail Route at Aldine Westfield. She died at the scene.
Lopez was indicted on a manslaughter charge Monday and surrendered to police that night. He was released after posting $60,000 bail Tuesday.