Man dies in wreck with 18-wheeler

Law enforcement officials are still trying to piece together what caused an accident among three-vehicle – two of them 18-wheelers – that resulted in the death of an Inez man Wednesday morning on U.S. Highway 183 near J.B. Wells Arena.

Gonzales police Capt. Allen Taylor said a northbound Ford F-150 pickup, which was reported to have swerved across the center line several times prior to the 8:45 a.m. accident, struck the trailer of a southbound 18-wheeler belly-dump truck, creating a debris field several hundred yards long across several lanes of Highway 183, closing the highway for several hours as emergency crews worked to rescue the driver and his wife who were trapped in the pickup.

Gonzales Fire Department and Gonzales County EMS/Rescue extracted Roger Miller, 70, and his wife, Joan, 69, both of Inez, who were transported by ambulance to Gonzales Memorial Hospital. Taylor reported that Roger Miller later succumbed to injuries sustained in the crash. Joan Miller was treated and released from the hospital.

The collision of the pickup with the 18-wheeler, driven by David Ledford, 57, of New Braunfels, ripped loose the rear tandem axle of the trailer and a tire from the remaining axle, disabling the truck. A second 18-wheeler driven by James Lawrenson, 52, of San Marcos, hit Ledford’s truck, but Lawrenson managed to bring his truck to a safe stop.

Neither driver of the 18-wheelers were injured, Taylor said.

The extensive debris field, which included the mangled driver’s door from the pickup, the pickup’s front bumper, the 18-wheeler’s axle and a loose tire, scraps of metal and fiberglass, and shards of glass, littered the highway. A street sweeper from the city of Gonzales was called in to clean up before officials reopened the heavily-traveled highway.

Southbound traffic was initially funneled onto the shoulder of the highway and trickled past the crash site, while northbound traffic backed up for miles. Traffic from northbound lanes of 183 and eastbound state Highway 97 were eventually detoured onto County Road 197 on the west and north edges of J.B. Wells Park until crews could clear the highway.