A truck driver accused of crashing his vehicle into a line of cars stopped on I-35 last month, killing five people, had no drugs or alcohol in his system, his lawyer said.
Attorney Bristol Myers said a toxicology report ordered by police and performed by NMS Labs showed his client, Solomun Weldekeal-Araya, was sober when the crash happened.
"It was exactly what I expected to find," Myers said. "This is one of those instances where my client told me the truth. I believed it and it turned out to be true."
The crash happened March 13 after 11 p.m. on I-35 southbound just north of Parmer Lane. Three main lanes had been reduced to one for a repaving project for the I-35 Capital Express North highway expansion.
The lane reduction caused a line of cars to form on the main lanes. The shoulders had been eliminated to create more space for construction.
Four of the five people killed — including a baby and a child — were from a single family. Eleven people were rushed to hospitals, including some who were severely injured. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.
"It's a tragedy what's happened out there," Myers said. "You can't make up for a tragedy by imposing an injustice on someone else. If the families, if they want justice, it means they're also going to have to get justice that comes from a proper investigation."
Myers filed a motion Friday to have Weldekeal-Araya released or his bond amount reduced from $1.2 million to $1.
The Austin Police Department has not yet responded to a request for comment from KUT News. APD sent a prepared statement to other media outlets, including the Austin American-Statesman, which was first to report this story.
“The Austin Police Department (APD) is aware of the preliminary toxicology reports for Solomun Weldekeal-Araya," the statement read. "At this time, the APD Vehicular Homicide Unit is working with the Travis County District Attorney’s Office to determine specific charges. The original charges were based on Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs) and drug recognition examinations conducted by APD officers during the initial investigation. The investigation is still ongoing."
On the night of the crash, an APD officer said he found Weldekeal-Araya's hiding in the personal cabin area of his semitruck, peeking his head out of the curtains, according to an arrest affidavit.
After exiting the vehicle, Weldekeal-Araya told police he tried slamming on the brakes before the crash, but they didn't work. An officer with APD's Commercial Vehicle Enforcement unit inspected the vehicle and didn't find any issues with the brakes.
A DPS officer who helped with the vehicle inspection discovered Weldekeal-Araya had exceeded the maximum number of hours he can drive several times over the past week, the affidavit said. Police said he had "multiple past inspections" documenting similar "hours of service" violations, along with traffic offenses while driving a commercial vehicle.
APD officers performed field sobriety tests and said in the affidavit that Weldekeal-Araya's eyes were "bloodshot and watery, and his speech was mumbled."
He was taken to a hospital where another officer did something called a Drug Influence Evaluation. The test relies on examining things like like pupil size, vital signs and an interview rather than any blood or urine testing. The officer concluded the suspect had been using central nervous system depressants, a category of drug that includes Xanax and Valium.
Weldekeal-Araya was arrested and charged with five counts of intoxication manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault. He remains in the Travis County jail.
