Four dead, one injured in fatal I-10 crash

Interstate 10 eastbound in Gonzales County was shutdown for more than 11 hours after a fatal crash was reported, Wednesday, July 6.

The accident occurred at 11:22 a.m. Wednesday near the city Waelder, according to Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Rueben San Miguel and involved three truck-tractors with semi-trailers and three passenger vehicles.

A 2021 Volvo truck-tractor, driven by Wade Stagle, 57, of Remer, Minnesota, along with passenger, Christy Hoffer, 46, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was towing a semi-trailer and traveling eastbound on I-10 in the right lane. According to San Miguel, Stagle didn’t slow down near a construction area and hit a 2020 BMW, driven by Mona Nesbitt, 62, of Lubbock, along with two minor passengers, and continued crashing into several other vehicles, according to San Miguel.

Four people (Stagel, Hoffer, Nesbitt, and an 11-year-old female whose name was not released) were pronounced dead at the scene at 11:50 a.m. by Gonzales County Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace Jesse Almaraz.

A boy in the BMW was airlifted via helicopter to a San Antonio hospital in serious condition, San Miguel said.

The wreckage and debris from the accident caused the interstate to shut down.

“I-10 was closed from 11:22 a.m. to 11:40 p.m. Traffic was was diverted onto a feeder road and diverted around, but I-10 was closed down for almost almost a little over 11 hours,” San Miguel said.

The accident is currently under investigation by DPS.