AUSTIN, Texas — Two of the people injured in this month’s deadly 17-vehicle pileup on Interstate 35 in North Austin are suing several of the parties allegedly involved in the crash.
On Wednesday, Francisco Villalobos and Priscilla Davila, from Temple, filed a lawsuit against 18-wheeler driver Solomun Weldekeal-Araya, his employer, ZBN Transport and Amazon, because ZBN was carrying a load for Amazon at the time.
The crash killed five people and injured 11 others.
Investigators say Weldekael-Araya was under the influence of CNS depressants – drugs that slow brain activity – at the time of the crash. He remains in the Travis County Jail facing intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault charges.
In the lawsuit, the victims claim their injuries were caused by Weldekeal-Araya’s “negligent, careless and reckless” actions. Last week, their attorney told KVUE Francisco and Davilla were left with injuries like brain bleeds, fractures and organ damage.
“He failed to notice a work zone, failed to notice lane reductions, and failed to notice dozens of stopped vehicle in front of him,” the lawsuit says. “He failed to apply his brakes for over a tenth of a mile while his building-sized vehicle proceeded at highway speed into 18 other vehicles, killing or injuring at least 17 innocent bystanders.”
The lawsuit claims Araya’s required hours-of-service log and electronic logging device contained several violations during the seven days prior to the crash. It says in the weeks and months leading up to the crash, Araya was charged with driving 63 mph in a 30 mph zone, more than double the legal speed limit.
The lawsuit claims that while Amazon uses compliance monitoring to supervise driver and load movements and penalize carriers for late deliveries or load cancellations, Amazon “did nothing in this case to apprise themselves of the driver’s actual background, training, safety record, recent driving history, or recent hours-of-service log violations.”
In response, Amazon referred to its statement issued last week after a separate lawsuit was filed, reading, “This is a horrible tragedy, and our thoughts are with all those involved. We’re cooperating with all investigations.”
KVUE reached out to ZBN Transport for a statement and will update this story when one is provided.
Last week, another survivor of the crash, Nathan Jonard, filed a $100 million lawsuit in Travis County, also against ZBN Transport, Amazon and Weldekeal-Araya, accusing them of negligence that resulted in multiple deaths and injuries.
At least two other lawsuits were filed in Dallas County, where ZBN Transport, who employed Araya, is based.
The parents of Sergieo Daniel Lopez and his deceased child filed one lawsuit while a second lawsuit was filed by the family of Natalia Perez and her child, who were also killed in the crash. Both lawsuits seek more than $1 million in damages and the preservation of critical evidence.
Meanwhile, North Texas lawyer Domingo Garcia said he has filed a $50 million lawsuit against multiple parties involved on behalf of 78-year-old Maria Concepcion Joaquin, who was also killed in the crash. Garcia’s office said Joaquin left behind 11 children and 40 grandchildren.
According to Garcia’s office, Homero Lozano Huerta and an unidentified child also suffered “life-altering consequences” from the crash and are part of the lawsuit.