Legal Analysis: Hit by drunk driver attorney Anjali Nigam discusses the legal rights of the families of drunk driving crash victims in the second section of this article.
23-year-old Jose Arroyo was charged with intoxication manslaughter following a tragic alleged drunk driving crash that left three people dead in the early hours of Monday, May 25.
Dallas police suspect that Arroyo was drunk and speeding in an SUV on Singleton Boulevard around 1:30 a.m. when he allegedly ran a red light and crashed into another vehicle near the intersection with North Hampton Road.
Four family members were in the Toyota Camry that Arroyo's vehicle struck, and three lost their lives in the crash. 47-year-old Ernesto Deleon, 18-year-old Ashley Deleon, and 19-year-old Leslie Deleon were killed in the crash. The girls' mother, Laura Sanchez-Quiroz, suffered serious injuries.
The affidavit says that Arroyo told responding officers at the scene, "I don't want to be drunk no more." According to the police, he had bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, and smelled of alcohol.
Arroyo allegedly refused to take a field sobriety test. Police had his blood drawn at a hospital. He was then booked at the Dallas County jail on three counts of intoxication manslaughter and one count of intoxication assault.
Attorney contributor Anjali Nigam represents drunk driving crash victims and their families, helping them recover the financial compensation they deserve. Anjali has offered to share some info on the legal rights of these families and victims in Texas:
Drunk driving often has devastating consequences, including crashes with serious and sometimes fatal injuries. When a drunk driver causes an accident and other people are injured or killed, the victims and their families deserve answers and support. In many cases, these victims and families may have grounds for a lawsuit.
Drunk drivers can be directly sued in Texas and all other states through personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits. Additionally, Texas and many other states have dram shop laws, which allow victims to take legal action against alcohol vendors for negligently serving a customer that when on to cause alcohol-related injuries or deaths.
According to Texas dram shop law, an alcohol vendor can be sued for injuries or deaths caused by a customer if that customer was either under age 18 or obviously intoxicated at the time the alcohol was provided and that intoxication was a foreseeable cause of injuries or deaths.
If you or a loved one has been injured or killed in a drunk driving crash, you can learn more about your legal rights in a free consultation with one of our experienced drunk driving injury lawyers.
https://www.fox4news.com/news/suspected-drunken-driver-charged-for-west-dallas-triple-fatal-crash