Identity of stolen car fatality learned
Glynis Crawford Smith/The Highlander
With next of kin notified, the identity of the driver who died in the Aug. 31, four-car crash in Marble Falls has been released.
By Glynis Crawford Smith
The Highlander
The Marble Falls Police Department (MFPD) has released the identity of the driver who died in the Aug. 31, four-car crash in the 1900 Block of Ranch to Market Road 1431.
Capt. Tom Dillard, who was part of the team investigating the rush hour accident, said Alonso Castaneda Vazquez Jr., 39, of Colorado City was the driver of the 2017 Honda Civic stolen in June in Dallas.
“He rear-ended a truck and, we assume, he didn't want to stay on the scene in a stolen car and did a U-turn into oncoming traffic,” explained Capt. Glenn Hanson, MFPD public information officer.
Once the identity of the driver had been established through fingerprints sent to Texas Department of Safety and the Federal Bureau of Investigation databases, it was necessary to wait for notification of next of kin before making Vazquez' name public.
Brandi Donnette Barrow, 47, of Burnet was the driver of the 2016 Ford F-350 pickup in the accident, and she was uninjured.
Most seriously injured was Shelby G. Spangler, 78, of Horseshoe Bay, who was driving a 2011 Lexus RX350 SUV, westbound on the inside lane. She was struck head-on and was injured severely enough to be transported to Dell Seton Hospital by Marble Falls Area Emergency Service ambulance.
The head-on collision knocked the Lexus into the outside, westbound lane, where it was rear-ended by a 2006 Chevrolet Suburban.
That fourth car was driven by Elizabeth S. Walker, 49, of Highland Haven. She and her 18-year-old son, a passenger in the car, were not injured, according to the MFPD reconstruction of the event.
Vazquez was pronounced dead at the scene by Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace Peggy Simon.
