July 18th, 2011
Seguin resident receives manslaughter charge for Friday wreck

STAFF REPORT

San Marcos police say Seguin resident Luis R. Besa is to blame for a four-vehicle wreck that killed one man on Friday and left another seriously injured.

Maxwell resident Alejandro Perez, 58, died at the scene. Lockhart resident Alfredo Aquino, 62, was hospitalized with potentially life-threatening injuries. Both men were in the same car, which was struck by Besa’s truck.

Police jailed Besa, 42, at the Hays County Law Enforcement Center and charged him with one count of intoxication manslaughter and one count of intoxication assault. Besa’s bond was set at $100,000 for the manslaughter charge (a second degree felony) and $50,000 for the assault charge (a third degree felony).

Not counting Besa’s current charges, police in Hays County have charged Besa with speeding, reckless driving, marijuana possession, theft, assault, and driving with a suspended license. All charges except those of theft, speeding and reckless driving were dismissed.

Friday’s crash occurred at about 5:50 p.m. in the 1100 block of SH 123, near the intersection of FM 621. Two additional individuals were injured in the wreck and transported to Central Texas Medical Center (CTMC), where they were treated and released, according to City of San Marcos Spokesperson Melissa Millecam.

The Cadillac El Dorado in which Perez was a front seat passenger had been waiting to turn into a grocery store parking lot when it was rear-ended by Besa’s Chevy pickup truck, according to Millecam. Besa’s Chevy, which had been traveling south on Highway 123, crushed the back of the Cadillac and sent the sedan into oncoming traffic. The Cadillac was broadsided by a GMC Sonoma pickup truck and struck by a Hummer.

The Cadillac caught fire and burned until a passing truck driver, who Millecam did not identify, extinguished the flames.

Employees of the San Marcos Fire Department, the Hays County Sheriff’s Office and San Marcos/Hays County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) responded to the wreck.

Aquino, who drove the Cadillac, sustained possible life-threatening injuries and was transported to University Medical Center Brackenridge in Austin, where he remained hospitalized as of July 16. Hays County Justice of the Peace Jo Anne Prado pronounced Perez dead at the scene.

The wreck shut down the roadway for several hours, said Millecam.

In 1996, Besa was charged with misdemeanors including assault and possession of marijuana, though the charges were dismissed. Besa had a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge in 2000 that was also dismissed.

In 2002, Besa pleaded no contest to Class B misdemeanors, including theft and reckless driving, and received sentences amounting to two years of probation and 880 hours of community service, according to court records. Besa was assessed $972 by the court and he owed $310 as of Monday, according to county records.

Police charged Besa with speeding in 2003, and a judge found him guilty the next year. Police charged Besa with speeding in May 2011, and he pleaded no contest in June. The court assessed Besa $403 and made him take a drivers safety course. As of today, Besa owed $60 for the 2003 and 2011 charges, according to county records.