PRESS RELEASE — On June 16, 2018, at approximately 9:00p.m., the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Troopers responded to a multiple vehicle crash on Interstate 10, near State Highway 87, in Orange County.

Initial reports indicate that a 2005 Ford pickup truck was traveling eastbound, in the outside traffic lane, on Interstate 10.  A 2013 Freightliner box truck was traveling eastbound, in the inside traffic lane, on Interstate 10.  For an unknown reason, the driver of the Ford pickup truck failed to drive in a single lane and struck the outside concrete wall.  After striking with the wall, the driver veered left and struck the right quarter panel of the Freightliner.  This impact caused the Ford to strike the outside concrete wall again, at which point the driver of the Ford lost control of the vehicle.  The Ford pickup truck traveled back into the path of the Freightliner and was struck in the driver-side door.  At that point, the Ford pickup truck rolled over and the driver was ejected from the vehicle.

The driver of the Ford, 48-year-old Odilon Alvarado of Louisiana, was transported by ambulance to St. Elizabeth hospital with serious injuries.  Alvarado was not wearing a seat belt.

The driver and passenger of the Freightliner were not injured in the crash.

All information is preliminary as Troopers work to determine the exact factors that contributed to this crash.