Manslaughter charges filed in Texas crash
George Alvarez ran a red light, lost control of his SUV and struck migrants, officials say. Eight were killed.
BROWNSVILLE, Texas — The driver in a deadly crash that killed eight people in Brownsville has been charged with manslaughter, police said Monday.
Authorities believe George Alvarez, 34, lost control after running a red light Sunday morning and plowed into a crowd of Venezuelans outside a migrant center.
Police Chief Felix Sauceda said Alvarez was charged with eight counts of manslaughter and 10 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The migrant center’s director, Victor Maldonado, said the SUV ran up the curb, flipped and continued moving for about 200 feet. Some people walking on the sidewalk about 30 feet from the main group were also hit, Maldonado said. Witnesses detained the driver as he tried to run away and held him until police arrived, Maldonado said.
Before the collision, the Range Rover ran a traffic light about 100 feet away, said Maldonado, who reviewed the shelter’s surveillance video.
Victims struck by the vehicle were waiting for a bus to return to downtown Brownsville after spending the night at the overnight shelter, said Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley.
Most of the victims were Venezuelan men, Maldonado said. Brownsville has seen an increase of Venezuelan migrants over the last two weeks, authorities said. On Thursday, 4,000 of about 6,000 migrants in Border Patrol custody in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley were Venezuelan.
The driver was taken to a hospital for injuries sustained when the SUV rolled over, Brownsville police investigator Martin Sandoval said.
Police retrieved a blood sample and sent it to a Texas Department of Public Safety lab to test for intoxicants.