A routine Monday morning commute ended in loss for a San Angelo family after a fatal three-vehicle collision along U.S. Highway 87. The crash happened around 6:45 a.m. at the busy intersection with FM 2105, leaving a local rider dead and two other drivers injured.
Fifty-six-year-old Douglas Molina Martinez was riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle northbound along Highway 87 as the sun was coming up. The weather was clear and the roads were dry, making for typical early-hour traffic in Tom Green County.
According to state troopers, a Chevrolet 2500 pickup truck sitting in the intersection turnaround pulled directly into Martinez’s path. Preliminary investigation reports show the pickup driver failed to see the oncoming motorcycle and failed to yield the right of way before pulling into traffic.
The force of the initial impact threw Martinez from his motorcycle. The pickup truck then continued through the intersection and slammed into a Chevrolet Trax waiting in the turn lane on FM 2105. Emergency responders rushed to the scene, but Martinez could not be saved.
Justice of the Peace Judge Speck arrived shortly after first responders and pronounced Martinez deceased at the scene. Officials later transferred his body to the Robert Massie Funeral Home in San Angelo. Official reports noted Martinez was not wearing a helmet at the time of the wreck.
The other two individuals involved in the crash escaped with minor injuries. Emergency crews transported the pickup driver and the occupant of the Chevrolet Trax to Shannon Medical Center for treatment and evaluation.
Sheriff’s deputies closed down the 6000 block of North Highway 87 for several hours to clear the wreck and conduct a field investigation. Traffic was detoured around Chadbourne Street until crews re-opened the lanes later that morning, leaving friends and neighbors to mourn a life cut short on a familiar stretch of road.
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