Egg-thrower gets probation in crash
The egg-throwing teenager involved in a fatal New Year’s Day wreck while fleeing an alleged gun-firing driver has pleaded guilty to unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, according to sources with knowledge of the case.
The boy, who was charged as a juvenile, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to the charge and received one year of probation, sources said. He will additionally remain in his parents’ custody.
The teen was initially charged with murder at the time of the crash at Aldine Mail Route at Aldine Westfield in north Houston, but sources said no other charges are pending against him.
The prankster, who was 14 at the time, and his pals rang in the New Year by taking his family’s GMC Acadia for a joyride and chucking eggs at passing vehicles, which included the 1971 Lincoln Continental with Christopher Lopez behind the wheel. A manslaughter charge is still pending against 48year-old Lopez, who has used the same classic car involved in the suspected road rage incident to pro
mote his Lonestar Slab car club, according to prosecutors.
The indictment lodged in mid-January alleges Lopez contributed to the death of Silvia Zavala, who was visiting family from the Rio Grande Valley, by speeding through the red light and causing the teen’s vehicle to hit the woman. Zavala died at the scene.
During the chase, Lopez allegedly fired a semi-automatic pistol out the window and at the teens, according to authorities.
Surveillance footage of the crash shows what appears to be Lopez’s Lincoln Continental skirting around the wreck and speeding off.
Charges of failure to stop and render aid and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon are also pending against Lopez for his role in the Jan. 1 crash.
Soon after the manslaughter arrest, Lopez was slapped with a single count of obstructing a highway for his role in an unauthorized photo shoot under the “Be Someone” train trestle, according to court records. The Dec. 2 stunt featured about a dozen custom cars — known in Houston as slabs for the cone-shaped metal rims that protrude from the wheel wells — on Interstate 45 at Interstate 10, bringing traffic near the busy interchange to a halt for more than 10 minutes.
Lopez has remained out on bond since Jan. 14 when he surrendered to authorities at the Harris County jail.