I-35 deadly multi-vehicle crash: Driver indicted on 22 charges

AUSTIN, Texas - The driver at the center of a deadly multi-vehicle crash on I-35 in March has now been indicted on 22 charges.

A Travis County grand jury has indicted 37-year-old Solomun Weldekeal Araya with:

• 5 counts of second-degree felony manslaughter
• 2 counts of second-degree felony aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury
• 15 counts of second-degree felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon

The five counts of manslaughter are connected to the five people who died in the crash. The aggravated assault charges involve 17 different victims who were injured, says the Travis County DA's office.

Araya’s cases will be prosecuted in the 427th District Court for Travis County.

What they're saying:

"Our hearts continue to break for the victims and their families," said Travis County District Attorney José Garza. "In this case, a group of independent Travis County community members reviewed the evidence and the law and determined that there was probable cause to believe that Mr. Araya's conduct was unlawful."

What happened in March?

The backstory:

Austin police say 17 people and 18 vehicles, including a semi-truck, were involved in the crash on I-35 southbound in North Austin near Parmer Lane and Howard Lane.

APD says the initial call was received at around 11:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 13.

The accident stretched more than a tenth of a mile, which is about 500 feet.

Five people, including a child and an infant, were pronounced dead at the scene; 11 others were transported to local hospitals. Two adults with life-threatening injuries were taken to St. David's Round Rock. 

All lanes reopened at around 1 p.m. March 14, according to TxDOT. Tolls had been waived in the area while crews cleared the scene.

The crash also happened in an active construction work zone, which reduced the lanes of travel in the area from three to one.

Details about the crash, victims

Court paperwork regarding Araya's initial intoxication manslaughter charge revealed more details about the crash.

After the crash, multiple witnesses told police that all traffic was nearly stopped when a yellow truck tractor towing a semi-trailer with an Amazon logo did not slow down and plowed through over a dozen vehicles.

The truck-tractor continued for about a tenth of a mile after hitting the first vehicle, striking others in its path. One witness involved in the crash told police he "heard a loud sound and then saw vehicles flying behind him."

The crash involved 18 vehicles in total, including a box truck, two truck tractors, two semi-trailers and 13 passenger cars.

One of the vehicles struck from behind by the truck tractor was a sedan with four people inside. All four, two adults and two children, were pronounced dead at the scene and the damage to the vehicle was so severe, Austin fire personnel had to use specialized tools to extract them.

Another vehicle involved was a pickup that contained three people. The truck was hit so hard in the rear that the bed was impacted into the passenger cabin, causing the rear seats to nearly collide with the front seats. The left rear passenger, a 78-year-old woman, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of the truck was taken to a local trauma center with serious bodily injuries, including fractured ribs and spine, kidney lacerations and an internal head bleed.

Another sedan occupied by two adults was completely crumpled by the impact of the truck tractor, and the driver was trapped and had to be extracted by the fire department. He was taken to a local trauma center with serious injuries, including internal bleeding in the head and chest and multiple broken bones.

Details about the driver, truck tractor

APD inspected the truck tractor and did not find any braking issues or vehicle defects that could have contributed to the crash.

Texas DPS looked at the driver's Hours of Service (HOS) logs, noting several violations during the prior week. The driver also has multiple past inspections noting similar violations and prior hazardous moving violations while operating commercial vehicles.

In Texas, drivers in intrastate commerce (within the state) can drive up to 12 hours following eight consecutive off-duty hours. They may not drive after being on duty for 15 hours, following eight consecutive hours off duty. Drivers also cannot drive after having worked and/or driven for 70 hours in any consecutive seven-day period and can restart that period after taking 34 or more consecutive off-duty hours.

The driver of the truck-tractor was detained at the scene after an officer was told by a witness that one of the involved drivers was trying to leave. The officer then saw a man hiding in the private cabin area of the truck and peeking his head out of the curtains. 

The driver was detained and identified as Solomun Weldekeal Araya. The affidavit says he spoke mostly Tigrinya, a language spoken in Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, but also understood and spoke English.

Weldekeal Araya told officers he had been driving in the center lane when another vehicle cut him off. He said he tried to slam on the brakes, but they did not activate.

In the affidavit, officers say they observed his eyes were bloodshot and watery, and his speech was mumbled. Weldekeal Araya told officers he was coming from Dallas and was headed to San Antonio and had been driving for about two hours. 

He said he had not consumed any alcohol, did not have any medical or physical issues, and did not take any medications or drugs. He also said he had slept all night and had taken a three-hour nap earlier in the day.

A field sobriety test showed he could not keep his balance or focus on instructions, and that he was swaying from side to side and front to back. Officers also noticed eyelid tremors and determined based on the test results that, due to a drug or controlled substance, he did not have the normal use of his mental and physical faculties to safely operate a motor vehicle.

Weldekeal Araya was then arrested for driving while intoxicated and taken to a local hospital for evaluation. Results from the evaluation led investigators to believe he was under the influence of depressants.

Injured man files $100M lawsuit

A man who broke several bones and sustained other injuries filed a $100 million lawsuit against the driver, the Dallas-based transportation company who hired him and Amazon.

Nathan Jonard, a Travis County resident, was stopped while driving southbound on I-35 when a tractor-trailer slammed into a number of cars on the highway.

Austin police say the tractor-trailer did not slow down prior to the crash.

According to the lawsuit, Jonard was knocked unconscious in the crash. He also suffered multiple broken ribs and other bones, a dissected artery in his neck, a herniated disk and "particularly gruesome wounds on his head, legs and feet." The dissected artery required surgery, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit names Araya, ZBN Transport, LLC and Amazon Logistics.

Araya was working for ZBN Transport at the time of the crash. The lawsuit says that Araya was hauling a load for Amazon at the time of the crash.

The suit claims that Araya was negligent in his operation of the tractor-trailer and the companies were negligent in hiring, training and supervising him.

Jonard is seeking a monetary settlement for his medical fees, lost wages and more.

He is seeking more than $100,000,000.

Witness speaks about the crash

A witness, who asked just to use his first name, Kendrick, helped get people out of their cars and even put out a fire in one of the vehicles.

March 13 started like any other day for Kendrick. He records his day on Snapchat, often talking to his followers, dancing, and telling jokes.

"I Snap my whole life, my whole day, every day, you know?" said Kendrick.

Last Thursday, he recorded a trip to the mall. It was a fun day off, spending $30 on the claw machine and shopping.

Then he headed to downtown Austin. His next Snapchats would change his life.

"This is insane," said Kendrick in his video on Snapchat. "This is insane. I don't know if I can unsee those people."

Kendrick was sitting in traffic on I-35, near Parmer and Howard Lanes in North Austin, when a tractor-trailer barreled into surrounding vehicles.

"I was like ‘Oh somebody crashed behind me,’ as soon as I had the thought somebody crashed back there just boom, boom, boom, boom, and then on my left rearview mirror, I see debris, and it was like a ‘Fast and the Furious’ movie just like plowing through everybody," said Kendrick.

"You guys, okay?" said Kendrick in his video. "Oh, s***. It's okay, It's okay."

Instinctively, he picked up his phone.

"I wanted people to know what happened here," said Kendrick.

He captured the moment he confronted the truck driver.

"This you bro?" said Kendrick in the video. "The f*** man. What? What happened?"

Araya responds in broken English.

An affidavit says he spoke mostly Tigrinya, a language spoken in Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, but also understood and spoke English. 

"The traffic was there, bro," said Kendrick. "There's no way. I'm a trucker myself. You were going way too fast. You know there're two people dead over there? Possibly two more?"

Crime and Public SafetyAustinCrimeWatch