Man crashes 18-wheeler into empty vehicles, charged with DWI: APD
AUSTIN, Texas - A man was arrested for DWI after a crash involving an 18-wheeler and other vehicles in downtown Austin on Sunday night.
On April 21, just after 11:30 p.m., Austin police responded to multiple reports of a crash at the intersection of E 9th Street and Embassy Drive near the Republic of Texas Museum.
The crash involved an 18-wheeler and several unoccupied vehicles. APD says about eight other vehicles were damaged.
Officers found the driver inside the 18-wheeler, later identified as 27-year-old Trevonte Martez Shon Neville. Neville was arrested for DWI, says APD.
Trevonte Martez Shon Neville (Austin Police Department)
The damage along East 9th St at Embassy Dr. could clearly be seen on Monday morning. There were dented sheet metal, broken tree limbs and skid marks.
"I woke up to a nightmare, I guess," said Will Lynch.
Video recorded by Lynch showed multiple vehicles that were smashed while parked on East 9th. Witnesses say a blue big rig truck pulling a trailer caused all the damage. The East Austin street is a dead end and apparently the driver was trying to get out of a jam.
"He was backing up there, continuously hitting cars that just never stopped until the cops came in and just pulled him out of the car. So quite the way to wake up on a Sunday. But, yeah, it was just one of the crazier things I think I've ever seen," said Lynch.
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Before being stopped, the truck hit up to 10 vehicles. Lynch said a car was stuck to the truck and was briefly dragged down the street. Metal poles anchored with cement were also yanked out of the ground.
"He knocked down like the dog receptacle stuff down there. I mean, when I was walking my dog earlier, the guy was trying to fix it up. Or, like, how did this guy even get a license? It's like, oh, clearly there was something else involved," said local resident Joy Seiberling.
The driver, Trevonte Martezshon Neville, was seen talking with police.
"I think all of APD was here," said Ashley Williams.
The officers, according to Williams, walked the driver to a nearby parking lot.
"They didn't have him in handcuffs, but they walked him over here, and we're doing an obvious field sobriety test. They use one of the lines of the parking spaces over here. Definitely struggled with it," said Williams.
Police charged Neville with drunk driving. They took him to jail and left behind incident report notifications for vehicle owners who were going to have a crushing start to their Monday morning.
"Like, yeah, it's like, wow, I can't believe this is happening. But it's also just like, I don't know, we've got some crazy drivers and people do really ridiculous stuff around here," said Williams.
No injuries were reported as a result of this incident.
Bond for Neville was set at $5,000.
This is not his first court case here in Travis County. Records show a month ago, a family violence charge against him from last year was dismissed.