Four people in golf carts, including two teenagers, were killed when a drunk man driving an SUV ran past a stop sign at an intersection in southeastern Texas, police said.
Miguel Espinosa, 45, was charged with four counts of intoxicated manslaughter in the crash Saturday in Galveston, about 50 miles southeast of Houston, police said.
Espinosa was being held at the Galveston County Jail on Sunday on $400,000 bail, police said. Prison records do not list his attorney.
Galveston Police Sgt. After the SUV failed to stop, it crashed into a pickup truck and then into a golf cart with six people on board, Derek Gaspard said. The golf cart and pickup were traveling in opposite directions on a street with no stop signs, he said.
The adult driver of the golf cart was pronounced dead at the scene, while a woman and two teenagers in the golf cart died after being taken to hospital, police said. Two other passengers – an adult and a teenager – were hospitalized in critical condition on Sunday, police said.
Residents of the community told KHOU-TV, a CBS Houston affiliate The accident caused trauma.
“The image of their child never leaves my mind,” Donna Bekkema told KHOU.
Espinosa, who lives in the Houston-area city of Rosenberg, and his passenger suffered minor injuries, police said. They were taken to hospital and later discharged.
Passengers on the pickup were not injured, Gaspard said. The name and age of the deceased were not immediately released.
Gaspard said he believed the rental golf carts were operating legally on city streets. He said members of two different families were sitting in golf carts at the time of the accident.
Galveston Mayor Craig Brown said golf carts have become “pretty prolific means of transportation” for residents and visitors to the Gulf of Mexico island resort.
Brown said the city has created ordinances in the past aimed at making operations safer and will consider additional ordinances at an upcoming city council meeting.
“I went out last night,” Brown said. “The island is busy and golf carts are everywhere – residential and rental golf carts – all over these streets.”
