Rescue attempt turns deadly on IH-35 access road

Rene Perez, left, Ernesto Perez, and Yvonne Zavala were killed in an accident in the early morning hours of July 29.

What started out as an attempted rescue of a man on a crashed motorcycle in a roadway, turned very tragic last Friday night/early Saturday morning around 2:20 a.m. for several local families. A truck traveling north on IH35 NB frontage road didn’t see the group of pedestrians in the roadway trying to help a motorcycle driver and was unable to avoid striking four people as he came over the hill. Three were pronounced dead at the scene, one was seriously injured.
The motorcyclist was Rene Perez of Natalia. Trying to help him was his nephew Ernesto Perez of Natalia as well as two other pedestrians Yvonne Zavala of Devine and Eloyed Castro of Lytle. Castro was taken by helicopter to a trauma hospital.
According to Texas Department of Public Safety Sergeant Orlando Moreno, “On 7/29/17 at approximately 2:20 a.m., Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) responded to a crash approximately 2 miles north of Lytle on the IH-35 NB frontage road in Medina County. For unknown reasons, Rene Perez, 45, of Natalia, lost control of his motorcycle and it slid onto its side in the middle of the roadway.
“At that time, a 2015 Toyota Tundra truck was traveling north on IH35 NB frontage road. The driver didn’t see a group of pedestrians who were in the roadway assisting Mr. Perez and was unable to avoid striking four people,” Sgt. Moreno reported.
“Three were pronounced dead at the scene, Mr. Perez, Yvonne Zavala, 41 of Devine, and Ernesto Perez, 36 of Natalia. Eloyed Castro, 47, of Lytle was airlifted to University Hospital in serious condition. ”
No charges have been filed at this time, but the investigation is ongoing and all contributing factors are not yet known.
By Kathleen Calame
Publisher
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