Semi-trailer driver allegedly killed woman in suspected alcohol-related accident in Fort Worth

FORT WORTH, Texas – The driver of a semi-truck has been arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated and causing an accident in Fort Worth that left a woman dead and a man injured.

The accident occurred around 1:30 a.m. Thursday on West Loop 820.

According to Fort Worth police, the accident was completely avoidable.

“Traffic came to a stop. There was a semi-truck that didn't stop and collided with the vehicle directly in front of it,” said Fort Worth police Officer Brad Perez.

The driver of the car did not survive the accident. Her passenger, a 41-year-old man, was seriously injured.

Now Fort Worth police say the truck driver who caused the accident, 24-year-old Guadalupe Velasquez Cruz, was drunk.

“There were signs that he may have been intoxicated,” Perez said. “So some DWI officers went to the location, ran some sobriety tests, took a blood sample from him and it turned out that he was indeed intoxicated. So he was arrested and charged with intoxication manslaughter.”

The accident occurred along West Loop 820 at White Settlement Road. It was 1:30 a.m., when traffic is not usually heavy, but there was a backup due to construction.

“Everything was narrowed down to one lane and there was a gridlock,” Perez said. “As you can imagine, it gets more and more crowded no matter what time of day it is.”

The investigation is ongoing and detectives are looking for answers in connection with Velasquez-Cruz, who is now charged with the murder of a woman.

“It's bad enough when someone drives under the influence of alcohol, but we're talking about a tractor-trailer where the driver is in charge of a very powerful machine that can cause death – which is what happened. That's the unfortunate part,” Perez said. “Why was this person drunk? Why was he driving a tractor-trailer in that condition?”

A third vehicle was involved. The impact caused the victim's car to hit the person in front of her. Police believe that the car's occupants were not injured.