A Texas girl was killed when her Honda Accord was struck by a 2021 Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack being taken on a check drive by a possible purchaser with a historical past of driving points and a salesman who ought to have identified higher.
Police in Odessa, Texas have been capable of calculate that the Challenger’s common pace was between 115 and 121 mph, and it obtained as excessive as 124 mph earlier than the crash. For reference, this highway had a 35 mph pace restrict. The lady, the mom of three Quma Carrillo, was ejected from her 2005 Accord Coupe and died shortly afterward, based on NewsWest9. To make issues much more horrid, certainly one of her youngsters, Natasha, stumbled on the accident scene by happenstance and located her mom useless on the road. Now, the household is suing the motive force, the salesperson and All American Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram of Odessa.
After the crash, the motive force, Benjamin Meece, fled the scene and was present in a close-by yard hiding beneath a sheet of plywood. He was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, collision involving dying, collision involving important bodily harm and aggravated assault inflicting important bodily harm in reference to the crash, Automotive Information reviews. On July 30 he was charged with one depend of collision involving dying, two counts of aggravated assault with a lethal weapon and one depend of collision involving important bodily harm.
Each Meece and Kenneth Salas – the salesperson – have been transported from the scene by ambulance. Salas was suspected of getting severe accidents, and Meece was reported as having potential accidents.
Right here’s extra on Salas’ and All American CJDR’s roles in all of this, from Automotive Information:
The lawsuit accused Salas, the salesperson, of implying with social media posts of muscle automobiles that he would “would go the additional mile (per hour) to provide clients an unforgettable gross sales expertise” throughout check drives. The lawsuit quoted one submit mentioning “a hell of a check drive” with a buyer who purchased a Ford Mustang Shelby GT350.
“Whereas these wild rides could have helped Salas promote sports activities automobiles, they have been reckless pursuits to fulfill All American and Lithia’s gross sales objectives,” the civil case stated. “It was solely a matter of time till these sales-driven pleasure rides turned lethal.”
It accused the dealership of negligence in overseeing clients and check drives.”All American additionally owed Plaintiffs, and others, an obligation to make use of unusual care in investigating the competency of check drive clients, entrusting automobiles to them, and supervising their check drives as soon as began,” the lawsuit stated. “All American knew or ought to have identified that sure of its workers, together with Salas, have been unfit, incompetent, and/or reckless and that their employment and entrusting automobiles to them created an unreasonable threat of hurt to Plaintiffs and others. All American additionally knew or ought to have identified that sure of its check drive clients, together with Meece, have been unfit, incompetent, and/or reckless and that entrusting them with a automobile created an unreasonable threat of hurt to Plaintiffs and others.”
The lawsuit additionally alleges Meece ought to have by no means been allowed behind the wheel of that Challenger. Ector Nation Jain information apparently present that he had been arrested repeatedly on suspicion of vehicle-related violations from 2007 to 2023, together with a couple of occasion of reckless driving. Right here’s extra from AutoNews:
“Primarily based on Meece’s publicly obtainable historical past, nevertheless, Salas and All American ought to by no means have let him behind the wheel of any automobile, not to mention a high-performance one,” based on the lawsuit filed in Ector County District Court docket in Texas. “Only a cursory evaluate of native arrest information would have made clear to Salas and All American that Meece shouldn’t be trusted to drive such a automotive in Monday morning site visitors. His many reckless driving and failure to take care of monetary duty infractions ought to have set off alarms to Salas and All American.”
A spokesperson for Lithia Motors – the dealership’s guardian firm – declined to touch upon the pending litigation however did affirm that Salas now not labored there.
