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Full Recap of DPS's Wild Day in Howard County 11/23/09

Greg Sherman
CBS 7 News Big Spring Reporter
November 23, 2009

Here is a full recap of today's events with the information from Trooper Thomas Moore.

It all started at 8 AM down in Sterling City when 58 year old Ruben Tamez of San Antonio sped through a school zone. Law enforcement attempted to pull him over but he took off.

The chase went north on Highway 87 through Sterling, Glasscock and Howard Counties before Howard County Sheriff's Office Deputies were able to get Tamez to pull over. Tamez gave up and surrendered on his own. At last report, he was in the Reagan County Jail on various charges.

As that was ending, a rollover accident involving 4 children happened southwest of Big Spring. 29 year old Natasha Rivera was heading south on Nichols Road, a very soft dirt road, when she lost control of her pickup truck and flipped it off the road. She had 4 kids with her ages 4-11 and the 4 year old was ejected from the vehicle.

Thankfully no one, including the young child was seriously injured. Sgt. Moore confirms Rivera will be cited for a child safety seat violation.

Trooper Jared Batcher was in route to the rollover scene when he got involved in an accident. According to Moore, Batcher was traveling westbound on the North FM 700 Service Road approaching the traffic light for Highway 87 / Gregg Street. He did approach the intersection with lights and sirens on.

As he went through the intersection, he struck a Cadillac Escalade driven by Nicholas Lopez that was northbound on Highway 87. The Cadillac sustained minor damage, but Batcher's vehicle sustained significant front-end damage.

Both Batcher and Lopez sustained minor injuries.

Moore did credit law enforcement personel in Howard, Glasscock, and Sterling Counties for their coordination in keeping a hectic situation from getting out of control.

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