UPDATE: Charges of DWI and negligent injuring have been dropped against a Texas man involved in a fatal crash last month.
Tony Lejeune, 30, initially was booked with first-offense DWI, negligent injuring and careless operation in connection with a four-vehicle crash. After toxicology tests were run, it was determined he was not impaired at the time and the DWI and negligent injuring charges were dropped, court records show.
We reached out to Troop D about that, and were told the investigating trooper booked Lejeune based on “observations made at the time of the crash.”
“The same toxicology sample that can help prove guilt in a DWI case can also reveal a subject was not impaired at the time the sample was obtained, as is the case here,” a statement from a Troop D spokesman reads. “The charges were included in our news release because that is what he was originally charged with and we did not have updated information available at the time of the release. Nevertheless, the careless operation charge stands as Mr. Lejeune plowed into a line of cars leading to the death of a vehicle occupant. I appreciate you bringing this to our attention so we can help set the record straight.”
A woman from Port Arthur, Texas, died last week of injuries sustained in the crash, State Police say.
The accident happened on I-10 on December 11.
Troopers responded to a four-vehicle crash on I-10 Eastbound four miles from the Texas state line. The initial investigation revealed a 2013 Ford pickup truck driven by Lejeune was traveling east on I-10 when he encountered slow-moving traffic due to congestion. The pickup truck struck the rear of a 2011 Lexus sedan, causing a chain reaction crash involving two additional vehicles.
Lejeune wasn’t injured, State Police say. Occupants of other vehicles received minor to moderate injuries while an unrestrained passenger in the Lexus, 62-year-old Thi My Tran of Port Arthur, Texas, sustained serious injuries and was transported from the scene by helicopter to a Beaumont area hospital. On the morning of December 27, 2018, Tran succumbed to her injuries and died at the hospital.
The crash remains under investigation. The charge of careless operation stands against Lejeune, according to court records and State Police.
