HCSO: Driver flees after fatally striking woman

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A woman is dead and Harris County Sheriff's Office deputies are looking for the driver that hit and killed her.

According to officials, Andrea Davina Senteno was reportedly standing in the middle of Highway 249 near West Mount Houston just after 6am when she was fatally struck by an eastbound red Ford F-150 pickup truck.

"It's sad. Very sad," local business owner Peter Scott said.

By the time Scott arrived at his nearby barbecue restaurant at 7am, the damage was done.

"I just seen the ambulance and fire department and everything down there," he said. "I already knew what happened. People get hit on this street all the time. It's nothing new."

Two people reported seeing Senteno. The first 911 call came in at 6:04am to report a woman standing in the middle of the roadway. The second call came in at 6:07am to report that a woman had been hit.

The second witness was driving about 1,000 feet behind the striking vehicle when he saw the collision happen. He stopped, called 911 and stayed with the woman until emergency crews arrived. She died at the scene.

"It was dark at the time. The witness can't confirm if she was walking across the road or walking in the road, east or westbound," Anders said.

Investigators are still trying to piece together where Senteno was coming from and where she was going at 6am on a Saturday. She was alone and dressed in house clothes, but we've learned she was possibly the mother of young children.

A young mother herself, Raquel Blaine lives nearby and says people walk on the shoulders of Highway 249 and West Mount Houston all too often. Saturday morning's accident may now change her method of getting around.

"I get nervous because there's no sidewalk," Blaine said. "I mean, sometimes I have to walk, but I never walk down there. And people late at night, they don't watch where they're driving. There's no lights."

If you witnessed the accident or have information on the driver, call the HCSO Traffic Division at 713- 274-7400.

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Driver died after crashing SUV into ditch

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Police are investigating a Christmas morning accident that killed a driver in southeast Houston.

At about 7am, a Chevy Suburban traveling easton Rowe crashed into a ditch at Ballantine, about a mile straight south of Hobby Airport. Two people were in the truck at the time of the wreck.

The male driver died at the scene. His female passenger was injured and taken to an area hospital in unknown condition.

Police say there weren't any witnesses to the crash, and they're hoping to talk to the passenger to determine what happened.

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Suspected drunk driver slams into light pole in north Houston

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Alcohol is believed to have played a role in an accident in north Houston.

The driver of a Kia Spectra was turning on to Veterans Memorial from Shepherd when he lost control and hit a traffic light pole. The driver had to be taken to the hospital.

Police suspect the driver was drunk.

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Driver dies after hitting guardrail on Southwest Freeway

  Crystal KobzaHOUSTON (KTRK) -- A driver died overnight after crashing into a guardrail on the Southwest Freeway feeder road.

The southbound feeder road of Highway 59 just before Beltway 8 had been closed for the police investigation of the deadly accident, but it reopened at around 5:15am.

Houston police say at around 2:30am the 37-year-old man drove his car off the exit ramp, through the barricades and ended up on the feeder road.

With the amount of damage to the vehicle and the guardrail, police say it appears the driver was exceeded the posted speed limit of 60 miles per hour.

"We don't have any witnesses who actually saw what happened, but evidence here at the scene indicates that he was about to take the north-south ramp onto Beltway 8 when for some reason, failed to drive in a single lane and struck the guardrail," said Sgt. I Izaguirre with the Houston Police Department.

At this time, police say there are no signs of impairment.

"He was wearing his seatbelt. There is no indication at this time that alcohol was involved. There is no alcohol inside the vehicle, we didn't smell any odor of alcohol," Sgt. Izaguirre said.

No other passengers were in the car with him at the time.

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Driver killed in METRO bus wreck in SE Houston

Police are investigating a wreck that killed a METRO bus driver in southeast Houston Tuesday evening.

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Officials say a METRO bus driver was killed in a wreck in southeast Houston Tuesday evening.

METRO police and safety personnel are investigating the accident that occurred on the service road of the Gulf Freeway just north of Howard shortly before 7pm Tuesday.

Preliminary information shows METRO bus operator James Brooks lost control of the vehicle, which crashed into a concrete traffic sign pole along the Gulf Freeway's feeder road. A witness reported to investigators that a vehicle made a right turn in front of another vehicle that was ahead of the bus. Brooks reportedly swerved to avoid rear-ending that vehicle, lost control of the bus and then struck the pole.

The bus was not in service and there were no patrons onboard the bus. Investigators state the bus was not equipped with cameras.

METRO staff sends its condolences to the family of 63-year-old Brooks, who had been part of the METRO family since 1983.

"While spending time with James' colleagues at the Polk Facility this morning it became very clear that he was loved and respected. He would always try to make people smile. He cared deeply about his own family and his METRO family," said METRO President & CEO George Greanias.

METRO officials are offering support to Brooks' family. Crisis counseling will be made available to all employees at the Polk Bus Operating Facility where Brooks worked.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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Driver dies after car crashes into tree, bursts into flames

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Police say the driver of a Chevy Malibu was killed after the car crash into a tree, split in half and burst into flames.

The wreck happened around 8:45pm off Airport and MLK Boulevard in southeast Houston.

Police say a driver in a Chevy Malibu was going over 100 miles per hour when the car lost control and hit a tree. The impact was so intense that the car actually climbed the tree about 10 feet before falling and bursting into flames.

Police say the car also split in half.

Police say there was a child seat in the car, but they think the driver was alone at the time of the wreck.

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Driver slams into home at end of chase

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Police say a man suspected of a home invasion and assault led officers on a chase last night in northwest Harris County.

It ended just before 11pm at a home on Elm Tree Estates and Prairie Village when the suspect sent the car crashing into a garage. That driver has still not been found.

Earlier in the evening, sheriff's deputies took a call about a a home invasion, in which someone in the home was attacked. A deputy arrived to see the suspect leaving, so he chased him through the subdivision.

According to the sheriff's office, the suspect bailed out of his vehicle, allowing the car to go into the house. The man then rolled under the deputy's patrol unit.

Still, he jumped up, and took off.

"At this point, he's definitely facing evading charges, and assault on the other call," said Sgt. Mike Harvey with the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

According to investigators, the suspect knew an individual at the house he broke into. Authorities believe the suspect changed clothes at some point. They searched, using an air and K-9 unit, but never found him.

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Driver dies in single-vehicle wreck on East Loop

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A man is dead after a single-vehicle accident in southeast Houston overnight.

It happened along the East Loop near Lawndale. Investigators say the driver of an Impala was speeding when he lost control and ran into a barricade. The man went through the windshield.

The victim was dead by the time paramedics arrived.

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Police: Wrong-way driver reaches 120 mph on Westpark

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A chase in southwest Houston ended in a crash last night.

Police tell us they were trying to pull over the driver of a Subaru for a traffic stop when he took off. Officers say he went the wrong way on Westpark and reached speeds of at least 120 miles per hour.

He finally lost control of the vehicle and crashed near Westpark and Fondren. The driver got out and ran but was captured a short time later.

Police say he's facing charges of DWI, drug possession and felony evading.

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Wrong-way driver killed after slamming into big rig

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- One man is dead after driving the wrong way on the South Loop and crashing into a big rig Saturday morning.

It happened around 3am near Main Street in southwest Houston.

The driver of an 18-wheeler says a Cadillac Escalade was traveling about 90 mph the wrong way on the South Loop when it clipped her big rig and then slammed into another semi.

The SUV burst into flames and the 36-year-old driver was killed at the scene. No one else was in the vehicle with him.

Police do not believe the drivers of the big rigs were injured. It's unknown if the driver of the SUV was impaired at the time of the crash.

The accident caused the interstate to be shut down for hours while crews cleared the scene. It remains under investigation.

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UPS delivery driver robbed of packages at gunpoint

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- December is a hectic time for the UPS, delivering Christmas presents all over the country. And now, sadly they've become targets for Grinches armed with guns.

Authorities are searching for a gunman who held up a UPS delivery man and demanded packages. He may as well have been swiping people's presents from right under the Christmas tree. It happened Thursday morning in the Spring-Cypress area.

With the holiday season at hand, UPS drivers have their hands and brown trucks full, and UPS tells Eyewitness News that on Thursday morning an armed robber saw a target.

According to UPS, one of its delivery drivers was working in the Spring-Cypress area when he was approached by an armed gunman who robbed the delivery truck. UPS says the suspect was able to get away with the packages.

"He ought to be ashamed of himself because he has deprived someone else from receiving what they were supposed to receive," said resident Ruben Braziel.

Another neighbor hopes those stolen boxes were not meant for her address, and says she hopes the crime won't steal the joy out of someone's Christmas.

"Very, very sad that they would do that, and not have the consideration for the person that not only who bought them, but the person that is going to receive them," Patti said.

UPS says the driver was not hurt and returned to work shortly after the incident.

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Man at large after fatally shooting driver in face

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Police say a killer who shot a man in cold blood moments after a heated argument is now on the loose.

The victim was shot in the face around 9:20pm Friday on Joliet near Uvalde in southeast Houston.

Police say the victim and his killer were both inside a truck when they got into an argument.

The victim stopped the truck and got out. That's when witnesses say they could hear the men yelling at each other.

According to investigators, the victim opened the door of the truck and the passenger shot him at least twice. He died at the scene. His name has not been released.

The killer took off in the vehicle, which is described as a black two-door pickup.

Anyone with information on this crime can call Houston police or Crime Stoppers.

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HPD: Driver high on PCP slams into car, killing two

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A driver suspected of being high on the drug PCP is charged with a killing a couple in a horrible early Monday morning collision. We've also learned that suspect already had a court date in two weeks for another crime he's charged with committing.

From the broken water line to the damaged light poles and phone booth, there is a lot of evidence that something violent happened just outside a southwest Houston gas station.

Police say the man who caused it was 33 year old Theodore Hargrove, 33, whose blood test revealed was high on the drug PCP when he ran a red light on the Southwest Freeway feeder road at Kirby, and ran into another car waiting to leave the parking lot.

HPD Sgt. S. Sorge said, "He side-impacted the vehicle at a high rate of speed. Two occupants inside the vehicle died on the scene.

Hargrove will go before a judge at the criminal courthouse on charges that he killed the couple. But it's not the first time Hargrove has been in trouble. He has a long criminal history, beginning with a robbery charge when he was 18. Three years later he was indicted twice for murder. Those charges were dismissed.

But Hargrove served time behind bars for evading arrest, drugs, and driving with a suspended license. He was due in court again in just two weeks for allegedly running from a METRO police officer in January of this year. He was out on bond when the double fatality happened.

"It's the worst kind of situation," Sgt. Sorge said. "You know, just over here trying to make some purchases at the gas station, and their lives were tragically ended so quickly."

The medical examiner's office tells me they have identified the two victims as Ricardo Quinton and Meagan Jones. There is no cause of death listed on either victim at this point.

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Driver dead after losing control on SE Houston street

  Police say the man ran off the road, crashed into a fence and then crossed the median and hit a parked vehicle before coming to rest

It happened around 4:30am on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard at Bungalow Lane.

Police said the man was southbound on MLK when he lost control of his pickup truck.

The driver veered to the right and went over a curb and a sidewalk before he hit a fence, police said.

According to investigators, he got back on MLK southbound but then crossed the median and drove into the northbound lanes.

The driver ended up crashing into a Hummer parked in a driveway. He was dead when officers arrived.

The cause of the crash is under investigation. The man's identity has not been released.

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Police: Bus driver charged after leaving boy on bus

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A bus driver is facing a felony after police say she failed to check her bus for students and subsequently left a 9-year-old boy who had fallen asleep alone on the bus in a northwest Houston parking lot.

Nine-year-old Theo Jones says he's doing just fine now, and he's even back in school. We got a chance to talk to the boy about what happened Wednesday.

Theo says he was scared when he realized he was all alone on his school bus. No students, no bus driver.

"I woke up and there was nobody on the bus. I sat there for a minute and I got off the bus," Theo said.

According to police, it was during the morning bus route Wednesday when Theo fell asleep. The driver then finished her route, returned to the bus lot, parked and left.

Police say around 12:30pm is when Theo woke up and got off the bus, only to be met by a pit bull living behind the gate where the buses are parked.

"The dog was chasing after me and it jumped on me," Theo said.

Mary Martin says her husband heard the boy screaming for help and ran over. She says he was able to help the boy over the fence.

"They threw food at the dog and got the dog's attention while Albert, my husband, put his hands on the gate so the little boy could get on his hands and he could pull him over the gate."

Theo's mother, Meagan Jones, says she was at work when she got the phone call explaining what had happened.

"I was angry at first. I'm relieved that he is OK," she said.

The bus driver, Simona Alcaide, was arrested and charged with endangering a child, a felony charge. According to charging documents, Alcaide failed to check the bus for students before locking the bus and leaving the area.

"It's 30 seconds to check a bus, to walk it before you park it," Meagan Jones said.

HISD says the bus and driver are not employed by the district. Because Theo lives within a two-mile radius of the school, parents pay for a private bus company.

According to neighbors, that pit bull does live behind these gates and was not on the loose. Theo was taken to the hospital to be checked out after this incident. Again, he is OK.

Alcaide's bond has been set at $5,000.

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HCSCO: Speeding driver causes fatal accident in SE Harris County

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A driver was allegedly going more than a 100 miles an hour when he caused a deadly crash in southeast Harris County.

Sheriff's deputies say the driver admitted he was speeding when he lost control on a dip in the road on Clinton near Holland.

His Dodge Charger slammed into the back of a truck carrying a family of five. The truck went off the road and into a creek.

"The vehicle was submerged in water upside down. Rescue personnel responded to the scene. They were able to get the vehicle overturned," said Sgt. S. Wolverton with Harris County Sheriff's Office. "Obviously the people that did not suffer any serious injuries were able to get out of the vehicle."

A female passenger in the truck was killed. Three people suffered minor injuries and one wasn't hurt.

Charges are pending against the Dodge driver.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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Residents evacuated after driver hits gas main

PASADENA, TX (KTRK) -- A Pasadena neighborhood was partially evacuated last night after a driver lost control, slammed though several fences and then hit a gas meter.

Authorities say around 10:30pm, the driver was headed south on South Richey near West Thomas when he crashed through a fence at the Richey Elementary school yard, missing the school buildings but hitting a gas meter in the alley.

He continued traveling into the yard of a house in that residential neighborhood. The driver stopped 20 feet short of the house, but the damage was already done. Neighbors were put on alert about the leaking gas.

They say the man was on the street, disoriented, saying he was trying to head home after dropping his daughter off.

"He took his daughter over to get her car or something. She went home," said neighbor Sherry Buchanan. "They said, 'Where are you going?' He said, 'Home,' but he didn't know where he was, that he was on bath salts or something."

The driver was taken to the hospital to be checked out. At this point, there's no word on what charges he may face.

The gas company came out to repair the leak. Everyone was allowed back into their homes. School will go on as planned today at Richey Elementary.

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Passenger killed, driver jailed after Rosenberg crash

  ROSENBERG, TX (KTRK) -- Rosenberg police are investigating a one-vehicle accident this morning that killed the passenger and sent the driver to jail.

The crash happened around 1:30am in the 3300 block of Avenue H.

According to police, the vehicle was eastbound on Avenue H when the driver tried to turn right onto Millie Street and struck light pole, causing severe damage.

The passenger, identified as 25-year-old April Humphrey of Rosenberg, was taken to Oak Bend Hospital where she was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

Investigators say the driver, 21-year-old Jonathan Sepulveda, also of Rosenberg, suffered minor injuries. He was arrested for traffic violations, though the exact charges against him were unclear.

This case remains under investigation.

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Suspected hit and run driver turns himself in to police

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A man who claims that he hit and critically injured a man at an intersection in southwest Houston with his truck early Monday morning has surrendered to police.

For two days Houston police have been searching for a hit-and-run driver. Now that man has reached out to a community activist to help turn himself in.

Langston Carrier was tight-lipped when we asked him about a hit-and-run accident that happened at Hillcroft and Westpark on Monday morning. But Eyewitness News cameras were rolling Wednesday afternoon as carrier turned himself in to police.

Community activist Quanell X said, "He was absolutely tore up and heartbroken about all of this."

Quanell says Carrier was very emotional when he reached out to the activist late Tuesday night indicating he's the driver of a black Dodge pickup. Investigators say they've been searching for the truck's driver for hitting and injuring a pedestrian and failing to stop and render aid.

Quanell said, "He was very, very, very remorseful. In fact, he's one of the most remorseful individuals I've ever turned in. Because his whole disposition was about he wanted to do the right thing because it's what God would have him do."

Police say the driver of the truck was speeding through a yellow light on Westpark when he hit a 25-year-old man who was running across the street around 2:15 that morning.

The front end of this Dodge pickup is heavily damaged. Even one of the headlights is missing.

The impact of that crash seriously injured the pedestrian. He was rushed to the hospital in critical condition with a broken leg and other internal injuries, according to HPD. Police have not released the victim's name.

As for Langston Carrier, he could face charges of failing to stop and render aid.

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Cab driver carjacked by four suspects in southwest Houston

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Three people are in custody and a fourth still on the run after a carjacking a Houston cab driver overnight.

After police say they stole the car, they led officers on a chase in southwest Houston. But that's not all they're accused of doing.

Houston police say that all four suspects are teenagers. The guy driving that stolen minivan-cab eventually crashed it through a fence, through one backyard and partially into another backyard.

This all started when police say four teens carjacked a cab driver around 11pm Sunday. They boxed him in with another vehicle, and pointed a gun at him. The cab driver gave up his cab and ran off on foot.

About an hour later at around midnight, police spotted the stolen cab and chased the thieves through side streets. The chase lasted between 10 and 15 minutes. During that time, three of the four suspects jumped out of the cab. They were arrested.

Eventually, the chase ended about 2.5 miles away. But the teenager driving the stolen cab hopped fences and ran off.

Police called out a chopper and K-9 units, but weren't able to find him. Neighbor Joseph Bui woke up to a police helicopter hovering above his house.

"They come through the backyard fence of my home and the whole taxi (was) right there. And he broke the fence of my neighbor," said Bui.

Police say they know who the at-large suspect is and now just a matter of finding him.

All suspects face evading arrest charges and weapon charges. Police say they also found drugs and copper tubing in the cab, so the teens could face drug and theft charges on top of it all.

The robbery division is still investigating.

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