FAST FACTS:
( Shelby County, TN 1/31/10) Despite a blanket of ice covering many roads, snow can't be blamed for one deadly wreck early Sunday morning.
Despite the weather, deputies say 28 year-old Eduardo Flores was drunk behind the wheel of his speeding truck when it crashed and killed his passenger. Deputies say Flores smelled like alcohol, and the first person on the scene says beer poured out of the truck. But neighbors say the problem is bigger than one accident. They say the road itself is also to blame.
Orange spray paint marks the path along Crumpler Road in southeast Shelby County where the truck ran off the road. The path leads to a tree, where a man died. It was just before one Sunday morning, and Andrew Crumpler saw it all.
"They were both unconscious when I first got down there," says Crumpler. "Then finally, one of them came to and tried to open the door but the door was stuck closed. We couldn't get the door opened up. I just told him to be still, we had help on the way."
Shelby County Sheriff's Deputies arrested Flores, saying speed and alcohol were the main factors, but Crumpler says the street itself is also to blame. He and his family should know. Crumpler Road is named after them. For decades, they've carefully pulled out of their drive and have hoped for officials to lower the speed limit.
"45 miles an hour on this street and people are doing 50 or 60 miles an hour all the time down through here," says Crumpler. "Police work this stop sign, just about weekly."
In fact, Crumpler says when people stopped to help, other drivers nearly ran them over on the narrow road just minutes after the initial crash. Deputies charged Flores with Vehicular Homicide, Reckless Driving, Driving Without a License and DUI. They have not yet identified his passenger.
- Deputies blame speed and drunk-driving for fatal crash
- Neighbors say narrow road is also to blame
- Witness: "I knew he was dead, by the way the truck looked."
( Shelby County, TN 1/31/10) Despite a blanket of ice covering many roads, snow can't be blamed for one deadly wreck early Sunday morning.
Despite the weather, deputies say 28 year-old Eduardo Flores was drunk behind the wheel of his speeding truck when it crashed and killed his passenger. Deputies say Flores smelled like alcohol, and the first person on the scene says beer poured out of the truck. But neighbors say the problem is bigger than one accident. They say the road itself is also to blame.
Orange spray paint marks the path along Crumpler Road in southeast Shelby County where the truck ran off the road. The path leads to a tree, where a man died. It was just before one Sunday morning, and Andrew Crumpler saw it all.
"They were both unconscious when I first got down there," says Crumpler. "Then finally, one of them came to and tried to open the door but the door was stuck closed. We couldn't get the door opened up. I just told him to be still, we had help on the way."
Shelby County Sheriff's Deputies arrested Flores, saying speed and alcohol were the main factors, but Crumpler says the street itself is also to blame. He and his family should know. Crumpler Road is named after them. For decades, they've carefully pulled out of their drive and have hoped for officials to lower the speed limit.
"45 miles an hour on this street and people are doing 50 or 60 miles an hour all the time down through here," says Crumpler. "Police work this stop sign, just about weekly."
In fact, Crumpler says when people stopped to help, other drivers nearly ran them over on the narrow road just minutes after the initial crash. Deputies charged Flores with Vehicular Homicide, Reckless Driving, Driving Without a License and DUI. They have not yet identified his passenger.
