Vidor man indicted for manslaughter

Debby Schamber

A Vidor man was indicted by the Orange County grand jury this week for manslaughter/criminally negligent homicide after he allegedly drove his vehicle around the guard rails at a railroad crossing and into the path of a oncoming train killing one of the vehicle’s passengers.

Earl Ray Garza, 23, of Vidor was in his 1994 Ford Crown Victoria July 4 with three passengers traveling south on Main Street in Vidor. When he came to the railroad crossing in the 1800 block of South Main he stopped behind several other vehicles.

The train was barreling down the tracks with the horn blaring, headed toward the intersection when Garza pulled got out of line and passed the other vehicles and attempted to drive across the tracks.

As a result, the train struck the vehicle. A 45-year-old man who was in the back seat was transported to the hospital by helicopter where he later died. The other two passengers received serious injuries while Garza was transported to the hospital were he was treated and released, according to information from the Vidor Police Department.

Alcohol is believed to have been a contributing factor to the incident.

Other indictments returned include;

• Marie Eunice Parker, 35, Orange, injury to a child- Parker is accused of biting a child during a domestic disturbance;

• Bobby Roy Levi, 28, Oran ge, injury to a child- Levi is accused of beating a child with a belt;

• Charles Clayton Jordan Jr., 38, Vidor, sexual assault- Jordan is accused of sexually assaulting a child at a residence;

• Eric Jarrod Williams, 21, Orange, injury to a child- Williams is accused of sexually exposing himself to a child;

• James Allen Ross, 30, Vidor, aggravated sexual assault/indecency with a child- Ross is accused of sexually assaulting a child at a residence;

• Jeff Crain, 30, Vidor, aggravated sexual assault/indecency with a child- Crain is accused of sexually assaulting a child at a residence;

• Daniel Alexander Crain, 45, Orange, aggravated assault - Crain is accused of assaulting a woman and threatening her with a knife during a domestic disturbance;

• William Alejandro Cruz, 17, Garland, aggravated robbery- Cruz is accused of participating in a bank robbery along with several other men who have already been indicted;

• Ronny Lloyd Dowers, 41, Vidor, felony theft- Dowers is accused of stealing property and selling it at a salvage yard;

• Bobby Spoonemore, 34, Bridge City, felony theft- Spoonemore is accused of passing a worthless check for goods and service and refused to make it good;

• Randy Lee Terry, 27, Orange, felony theft- Terry is accused of stealing copper wire and doing extensive damage to the property;

• Jacob Brandon Price, 33, Fayetteville, unauthorized use of a vehicle/burglary of a habitation- Price is accused of breaking into a residence and stealing property from inside and stealing the vehicle from the residence;

• Tony Damon Henry, 36, Vidor, felony forgery- Henry is accused of passing several stolen and forged checks;

• Katrina Arnold, 31, Orange, felony forgery- Arnold is accused of passing stolen and forged checks;

• Turquoise James, 22, Orange, felony forgery- James is accused of passing stolen and forged checks;

• Charlene Marie Stout, 36, Vidor, felony forgery- Stout is accused of passing stolen and forged check;

• Raymond Aaron Ratley, 59, Fred, felony driving while intoxicated- Ratley is accused of having at least two prior convictions and being arrested for the same offense;

• Brad Edward Weigand, 26, Bridge City, felony driving while intoxicated- Weigand is accused of having at least two prior convictions and being arrested for the same offense;

• William Murray Johnson, 38, Orange, felony driving while intoxicated- Johnson is accused of having at least two prior convictions and being arrested for the same offense;

• Colven Simmons, 59, Vidor, felony driving while intoxicated- Simmons is accused of having at least two prior convictions and being arrested for the same offense.