Car meet turns deadly when driver slams into pedestrians at 100 mph, officials say
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Houston, TX (KTRK) — One person was killed and two others were seriously injured during what investigators called an illicit underground car meet Sunday night in northwest Harris County.
It happened around 9:35 p.m. along the Highway 290 feeder road near W. Little York.
One driver in a yellow Chevy Camaro told the group he was going to do a “flyby,” where you speed past the crowd, but in doing so, he crashed at 100 mph into a Chevy Malibu, said Sean Teare with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
The Malibu’s driver and passenger were not seriously injured. It’s unclear if the Malibu was involved in the meet.
But the crash caused both vehicles to skid, hitting three pedestrians.
“One of the cars was coming really fast. He hit the car that was there. It flipped over and it hit a parked Camaro, and there was a guy watching, standing, and he got hit,” said witness Orhan Akkus.
“My adrenaline was going, so we were trying to get the car off the person that was lying on the ground,” said another witness, Edward Johnson.
One of the pedestrians died at the scene. The other two pedestrians, who are teens, were flown to the hospital via Life Flight in serious condition.
The suspect, believed to be in his 30s, is in custody. He is charged with manslaughter.
He could also face two charges of reckless aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Many videos of the crash have been popping up on social media, and the district attorney’s office wants to see the raw footage.
“One way or another, we’re going to get it from you. If you’re posting it online, we’re going to come find it. It would be much better if you’re cooperative and give us some footage,” said Teare.
Investigators say these kinds of car meets and too much of this reckless driving are happening more often around Harris County.
Sheriff Ed Gonzalez put together a task force to investigate this kind of behavior. According to Teare, “a number of people have been arrested directly through the task force,” but he didn’t say how many.
If you have any information, you’re urged to contact the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
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