IRVING, Texas - On Friday, November 7, around 6:21 p.m., Irving Police received a 911 call reporting a major crash involving a pedestrian in the parking lot of the Via Real restaurant in the 4000 block of N. MacArthur Blvd.
Officers arrived alongside Irving Fire and EMT crews and found a three-vehicle collision with far more damage than typically seen in a parking lot crash. Paramedics found and began treating 58-year-old Gustavo Rodriguez of Euless, who was found on the ground between vehicles. He was taken to Parkland Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
60-year-old Michele Deanne Wilson of Dallas told officers she had been driving a gray Audi. She said her sandal got caught on the gas pedal and, because of neuropathy, she could not feel her feet. She repeatedly told officers, “I shouldn’t wear these flip flops, I just shouldn’t, driving.”
Wilson admitted drinking two glasses of wine around 5 p.m. She rated herself a “2” on a 0–10 intoxication scale. Officers noted she had glassy, bloodshot eyes and smelled of alcohol. She also reported taking the prescription antidepressant venlafaxine.
A field sobriety test showed six out of six possible clues on the HGN exam. A portable breath test recorded her blood alcohol level at 0.131, well above the legal limit of 0.08. At that level, drivers usually experience significant impairment of judgment, reaction time, and coordination.
Video from the scene showed the Audi suddenly accelerating from a complete stop, hitting a stopped vehicle, which then struck and pinned Rodriguez against a third vehicle.
Investigators determined Wilson was intoxicated and that her impairment directly caused the victim’s death while she was operating a vehicle in a public place. She was arrested, booked into the Irving Jail, and charged with Intoxication Manslaughter with a Vehicle.
