Elsa woman dies in expressway crash
EDINBURG — A 33-year-old woman died after she ran a stop sign at an intersection along an expressway frontage road Tuesday morning, police said.
Edinburg police responded to a wreck at the intersection of Chapin Road and 25th Street — the northbound Expressway 281 frontage road — about 10:10 a.m. Tuesday.
Jennifer Rodriguez was headed north on the frontage road in her brown Dodge Durango and didn’t stop at the intersection when a green Dodge pickup truck struck the driver’s side of her SUV, said Peter de la Garza, Edinburg assistant police chief.
Emergency responders rushed Rodriguez, of Elsa, to McAllen Medical Center, where she later died.
The woman’s two sons — ages 10 and 15 — were in the backseat and were taken to an area hospital, but their injuries were not serious, de la Garza said. All the SUV’s occupants were wearing their seat belts.
Investigators do not suspect alcohol or drugs were a factor in the collision.
“So far, it looks like it was just an unfortunate accident,” de la Garza said.
CRASH CLOGS EXPRESSWAY
Another wreck clogged Expressway 281 toward the end of rush hour Tuesday morning, but no serious injuries were reported.
San Juan resident Harvey Lopez said he was headed south along the expressway near the Sioux Road overpass about 8:50 a.m. Tuesday when he saw smoke coming from the tires of a concrete truck in front of him on the outside lane of the highway.
A slower-moving maroon pickup truck was immediately in front of the cement truck, and Lopez said he was unable to stop his blue Ford F-150 before they collided.
At least two other vehicles — including an ambulance carrying a patient — got tangled in the wreck following the initial collision, said Sgt. Santiago Solis, a Pharr police spokesman.
No serious injuries were reported. Police continue to investigate the wreck, which was cleared by 10 a.m. Tuesday.
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Jared Taylor covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4439.
