A 29-year-old Pharr man has been indicted over accusations he was intoxicated when he caused a crash that killed his friend.
A Hidalgo County grand jury indicted Christian Antonio Salazar on Oct. 26 on charges of intoxication assault with a vehicle causing serious bodily injury and intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle.
Salazar was scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment Wednesday morning in front of state District Judge Roberto “Bobby” Flores, court records indicate.
Salazar has a history of alcohol-related arrests and this latest one was his third in less than five years. Court records indicate he was on probation for DWI at the time of the crash.
Pharr police arrested him shortly after 2 a.m. Aug. 19 after an officer pulled up to a major crash in the 900 block of East Nolana Avenue, where police saw a blue Hyundai Elantra with major front-end damage on the eastbound lane facing westbound and a blue GMC Terrain SUV in a grassy area off the side of the road.
The driver of the SUV was Roosevelt Tijerina, who complained of back pain but did not appear to have life-threatening injuries, according to an affidavit for Salazar’s arrest.
Salazar, who was driving the Hyundai Elantra, exited his vehicle screaming and asking for help, telling the officer his friend was dying, the affidavit said.
That friend was Carlos Hugo Gonzalez, who died at 2:58 a.m., police said.
“Officer Rosas will testify that while speaking with the defendant he asked him where they were coming from in which he advised a bar called the Rockwell in McAllen and advised they both had alcoholic beverages to drink,” the affidavit said.
Police interviewed Salazar at the hospital, where they say he failed a standardized field sobriety exam.
He remained jailed Wednesday on a total of $350,000 in bonds, records show.
