Head on collision...one man loses life, one man left fighting for life

The driver of this BMW was killed when he hit another vehicle head on. Photo by Melissa Missildine It was a horrific sight. Debris was strewn across both sides of the highway between two cars involved in a head on collision Sunday afternoon leaving one man dead and another fighting for his life.

Just before the accident, the Freestone County Sheriff’s Department received several calls via 911 reporting a BMW traveling at an extreme rate of speed that was recklessly passing other cars. This vehicle was traveling South on HWY 79 toward Oakwood from just South of Palestine. It was traveling at what was reported by witnesses calling in to 911, to be about 100 miles per hour. According to Freestone County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeremy Shipley, drivers reporting the reckless driver had trouble pinpointing their exact location. This caused much confusion as to where the offense was taking place. The Butler VFD received their call to dispatch at 11:42am.

Sunday’s horrific head-on collision left the driver of this totalled Mitsubishi Montero fighting for his life. Photo by Melissa Missildine The DPS officer in charge of the scene, Adams, disclosed that “according to the results of the preliminary investigation, the evidence at the scene, including gouges in the road and burn marks on the pavement, and eye witness accounts suggests that the BMW was on the wrong side of the road when the collision occurred. It appears the BMW was attempting to pass another vehicle as it was going South on Hwy 79 when it hit the Mitsubishi Montero that was heading North on HWY 79 head on.”

Oakwood’s second grade teacher, Stephanie Lucio, was a witness that pulled up behind the scene of the accident just as the vehicles involved had come to a stop. She recounted the smoke rising from the vehicles and the total destruction of those vehicles. As she jumped out of her vehicle to assist, she encountered the passengers of the vehicle that was being passed. The passengers of that vehicle told her that they witnessed it because it happened right in front of them. They also told her that they didn’t see how the Montero could have gotten out of the way of the speeding vehicle in time to avoid the accident. They said the man in the BMW was driving way too fast. Lucio checked on the drivers of both vehicles, as did others who came upon the scene. The single occupant of the Montero was conscious. That man was 73 year old Charles White of Rusk. A man who had stopped to assist, recognized White. He told Lucio that the elderly gentleman had flagged him down not ten minutes earlier to let him know he had left his gas door open. He had thanked him and they went their separate ways. Now he was shocked and dismayed to see the kindly man in such agony.

The single occupant driver of the BMW, James Berry Berry from Tyler, was seriously injured and was non-responsive when Lucio reached him. At this point, the ladies who had actually witnessed the collision left the scene. They simply stated that they could not handle what was happening. When questioned about any consequences that may come from leaving the scene, Officer Adams stated that there was enough evidence from the scene and combined with that, the other witness statements, so he would not be pursuing the matter. He did however, have hope that these eye witnesses will call his office once they have calmed down to give a statement.

While others stayed with White, Lucio remained with Berry who was still strapped into his BMW by his seat belt. Lucio followed instructions given to her by the 911 operator. Those instructions were not to touch the victim but to remain with him in case he became conscious and needed assistance.

Lucio described in great detail how horrible it was to feel so helpless. She stayed with the victim, wishing she could do something about his grave injuries. She was also concerned because she observed the vehicle catching fire twice. She said they were small bursts of flames but scary none the less, with lots of smoke . Lucio also stated that it took an extremely long time for help to arrive. According to her, it was nearly 30 minutes before help arrived.

Berry was pronounced dead at the scene by Freestone County Judge Shirley Mays.

Although this accident occurred almost within eye sight of the Leon County line marker, the 911 calls were routed through the Freestone County system. The Freestone County Sheriff’s Department and the DPS office in Fairfield were called to the scene rather than the Leon County Sheriff’s Department or the Oakwood City Police Department due to fact that the earlier phone calls leading up to the accident were in the Freestone County jurisdiction. The officers were simply following up on the reports of a reckless driver when the accident took place.

Technically, the accident took place in Freestone County. The official Leon County line marker is less than a mile from the accident site.

Officer Adams said he “was not able to speak with White to get his account of the accident because he was in too much pain.” White had to be cut from the mangled Montero with the jaws of life. Members of the Butler and Tucker Volunteer Fire Departments and the Fairfield Fire Department worked together to get White out as quickly as possible. The Fairfield EMS was on hand to care for White until the life flight helicopter picked him up.

Meanwhile, a Freestone County Sheriff’s deputy was trying to re-route traffic down a series of dirt roads that lead through a residential neighborhood in Oakwood. These roads come out past the accident site. Although this plan seemed to be working, it was short lived. Several big rig tractor trailers became bottlenecked on the tiny, winding roads. There simply wasn’t enough room to safely turn corners. One unfortunate Wal-Mart truck ended up in the ditch and traffic became backed up again all the way back to the highway. No more vehicles were sent down the alternative road. Traffic was backed up for miles on both sides of the accident until the highway was cleared.