Two separate DWI crashes in Leander result in 2 deaths, 2 injured officers

AUSTIN, Texas - Leander police reported two DWI crashes in the past week. One resulted in the deaths of two people and the other involved a police vehicle.

On Sept. 30, at around 7:30 p.m., officials said Leander police officers responded to the intersection of RM 2243 and 183A toll road. Police said 49-year-old Jeremy Moore and 46-year-old Angela Barry were stopped at the red light on their motorcycle when 25-year-old Cody Landrum hit them from behind in a Nissan Rogue. Both Jeremy and Angela were found dead at the scene.

"Shocked and devastated," Moore’s sister Stephanie Krienke said.

Krienke said Moore and Barry had been together for about four years.

"Together they loved to go on vacation, and they loved music," Krienke said.

Barry’s birthday was coming up on Friday.

"I think they actually had plans to go to ACL this weekend," Krienke said.

Krienke said this loss is enormous.

"These two in particular, had people whose world revolved around them and for them to be gone, we don't really know how we're going to deal with that," Krienke said.

Landrum is facing two counts of intoxicated manslaughter.

Cody Landrum, 25, was arrested for two counts of intoxication manslaughter. 

On Tuesday night, officials said two Leander officers were parked on the shoulder of Ronald Reagan Boulevard running radar.

"That area is just before a gas station, between a neighborhood entrance and a gas station," Leander Police Department Lt. Ben Girdler said.

They said the police vehicle was hit from behind. The driver of the vehicle was identified as 38-year-old Joel Ramirez. He has been arrested for driving while intoxicated. All received minor injuries.

Joel Ramirez was arrested for a DWI

"The goal is to have people not drive intoxicated and that's one of the reasons they were running speed enforcement through that area is that area is a heavily traveled area that has a high-speed limit, so we frequently run that speed enforcement there," Girdler said.

Leander police is encouraging everyone to make safe travel plans before drinking alcohol.

"If you plan on drinking or consuming alcohol, always have a plan if that's Uber, Lyft, or a ride home from a friend, sleeping on a couch, whatever you need to do to not be on the roads," Girdler said.

The Texas Department of Public Safety said one person dies every 8 hours and 31 minutes in an alcohol related traffic crash in Texas.