The Texas Department of Public Safety says a 23-year-old Peñitas man who was behind the wheel of a fatal Dec. 11 crash had been drinking, speeding and blowing stop signs before hitting a pedestrian and rolling his vehicle over, ejecting all of its occupants.
DPS booked David Simon Cavazos into the Hidalgo County Detention Center last Friday on a charge of intoxication manslaughter and three counts of intoxication assault with a vehicle causing serious bodily injury.
Cavazos had been recovering from injuries he sustained in the crash at DHR in Edinburg.
The crash happened at around 6:36 p.m. on Washington Palm Drive and FM 2221 in Peñitas.
“It was called out as a single vehicle roll-over, auto-ped, with injuries,” a trooper wrote in a probable cause affidavit.
DPS determined that the 1996 white GMC truck driven by Cavazos had been traveling north on Washington Palm Drive approaching the intersection with FM 2221 that day.
“The driver of the vehicle disregarded the stop sign, and as the vehicle traveled through the intersection it went airborne. The front of the vehicle struck the asphalt as it came down on the roadway on Washington Palm Dr., north of FM 2221, causing gouge marks,” the affidavit states.
As the vehicle continued northbound on Washington Palm Drive it hit a woman walking on the northbound edge of the road, DPS says.
Cavazos then tried to re-enter the roadway and traveled into a right skid across Washington Palm Drive before rolling the vehicle over, according to the affidavit.
“All the occupants of the vehicle were ejected from it as it rolled,” the affidavit states.
Marco Mendoza, a 24-year-old occupant in the vehicle, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Cavazos and another passenger were transported to DHR while the pedestrian and another occupant were transported to McAllen Medical Center, authorities say.
During the follow-up investigation at DHR, a trooper noted that Cavazos had bloodshot eyes and had a slight odor of alcohol.
“Cavazos also made a claim of ‘I think we were drinking,'” the affidavit states.
One of the occupants, Cavazos’ brother, told DPS they had been drinking, according to the charging document.
Cavazos’ father and sister also told DPS that he had been drinking, authorities say.
“At the scene there were beer bottles and cans observed. Some had been ejected during the rolling of the vehicle,” the affidavit states.
Another occupant identified Cavazos as the driver and also said they had been drinking, DPS says.
“(He) also stated that David was driving eratically before the crash. (He) claimed that David was disregarding stop signs and that he was driving at a high rate of speed,” the affidavit states.
Cavazos’ sister also provided DPS with a Facebook video showing the men drinking alcohol earlier that day, authorities say.
He remains jailed on a total of $550,000 in bonds, records show.
