ECTOR COUNTY, Texas — NewsWest 9 has received an arrest affidavit detailing what led up to the Sept. 17 crash along State Highway 302 in Ector County that ended up taking the life of Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) State Trooper Kevin Ramirez Vasquez.
At approximately 8:47 a.m. on Sept. 17, 50-year-old Laura Lorena Rodriguez was driving her black Cadillac along State Highway 302 near Marian Dr. in Ector County.
According to the affidavit, Rodriguez was approaching an Ector County patrol unit vehicle that shutdown the right westbound lane with its emergency lights on. The left westbound lane was open for vehicles to use.
The affidavit states that Ector County Deputy, Justin Toombs was in the driver's seat of the Ector County patrol vehicle Trooper Vasquez was out investigating a crash scene and DPS State Trooper Edgar Garza was in a DPS patrol unit vehicle parked in a grassy barrow ditch.
The affidavit states that Rodriguez failed to slow down and move over. Rodriguez struck the Ector County patrol vehicle on the front driver side quarter panel.
According to the affidavit, the collision caused the Ector County patrol unit to rotate clockwise, which then struck Trooper Vasquez. When the Ector County patrol unit struck Trooper Vasquez, he was "forward projected" to the north shoulder. Then, the Ector County patrol unit vehicle struck the Texas DPS patrol car.
The affidavit states that first responders came out to assist all people involved in the crash. Trooper Garza started providing first aid to Trooper Vasquez while Deputy Toombs assisted Rodriguez out of her car. Toombs, Rodriguez and Vasquez were taken to Medical Center Hospital (MCH) for treatment.
After Trooper Vasquez was taken to MCH, he was airlifted to a Lubbock-area hospital for further treatment.
According to the affidavit, DPS Hospital Trooper Garrett Bratton interviewed Rodriguez at the hospital to get her perspective on the crash. She told Trooper Bratton that she observed vehicles in front of her "possibly for an accident." Rodriguez also stated that, "when she applied the brakes on her car it would not slow down fast enough at which point, she turned the car to the left."
The same day of the crash, the affidavit states that a search warrant was issued for the black Cadillac's airbag control module (ACM). After reviewing the module, it showed that Rodriguez was going 76 mph on cruise control in the posted 65 mph zone. The ACM report also showed that she applied the brakes 1.5 seconds before striking Deputy Toombs patrol unit.
The next day, Sept. 18, DPS Sergeant David Vaughan, the affiant listed on the affidavit, went back to the crash scene with Trooper Bratton to review what he already learned.
According to the affidavit, after Sergeant Vaughn went back to the crash and spoke with certified mechanics who worked on Rodriguez's car, it states that Rodriguez was able to see the Ector County patrol unit with its emergency lights ".7" miles ahead of her. Sergeant Vaughn also stated in the affidavit that there were no issues with her brakes.
The affidavit states that Rodriguez's cell phone was seized. Lieutenant Jarod Browne with the Texas Ranger Digital Forensic Program went over her phone records and findings with Lieutenant Lee with DPS' Safety State Crash Reconstruction Team. Phone records show that Rodriguez was "manipulating her phone in the seconds leading up to the crash."
According to the affidavit, Rodriguez was in violation of several provisions in the Texas Transportation Code, she was driving over the post speed limit and failed to slow down or move over for the marked patrol unit with its emergency lights on. Rodriguez had over .7 miles or 30 seconds to move over to the next lane, however, due to the "recklessness of manipulating her cell phone," she was unable to do so.
On Sept. 24, Trooper Vasquez died at a Lubbock-area hospital due to severe injuries he sustained in the Sept. 17 crash.
Deputy Toombs is out of the hospital and back out on the force.
On Tuesday morning, Oct. 22, Rodriguez was arrested at her home in Odessa and was booked into Ector County jail for two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on a public servant.
According to Ector County Sheriff Mike Griffis Wednesday morning, she was booked on a $150,000 total bond ($75,000 for each charge).
