22 charges against driver indicted in deadly Austin I-35 crash do not include intoxication

A truck driver has been indicted on 22 charges that do not include intoxication despite initial accusations that he was under the influence at the time of the deadly crash on Interstate 35.

The accident happened on March 14th on I-35 near Palmer Lane in North Austin, Texas  when truck driver Solomun Weldekeal-Araya slammed into a line of stopped traffic. Five people were killed. Initially 11 people were reported injured, but court documents released on September 23rd cite 17 different people injured. 

According to KVUE, police who responded to the wreck initially believed that Weldekeal-Araya was intoxicated, but field sobriety tests, and later blood tests, showed that he was sober at the time of the accident. 

“When the cops tested Solomun and he wasn’t drunk, they said he was high. When they tested his blood for drugs there was nothing there. Then they wasted taxpayer money to run more and more tests, only to come up empty. This indictment is a desperate attempt to criminalize a tragic accident,” Weldekeal-Araya’s attorneys wrote in a statement.

Weldekeal-Araya was initially held on a $1.2 million bond, which was later reduced to $7,000. He has since been indicted in Travis County on 22 charges that include five counts of Manslaughter, two counts of Aggravated Assault Causing Serious Bodily Injury and 15 counts of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon. The Aggravated Assault charges involve “17 different victims who were injured,” reported the DA’s office. 

“Our hearts continue to break for the victims and their families. In this case, a group of independent Travis County community members reviewed the evidence and the law and determined that there was probable cause to believe that Mr. Araya’s conduct was unlawful,” Travis County District Attorney José Garza wrote in a statement.

Weldekeal-Araya’s next hearing is an email-only check in on October 13th, reported My SA News.