DALLAS — A mother, her two adult daughters and her sister died when the driver of pickup truck crashed into their car late Saturday night in Northwest Dallas.
The truck pushed the women's car into a pole, practically splitting the car in half.
The women were pronounced dead at the scene. Police have identified the victims as sisters Raquel Vizcarra, 38; Mirna Vizcarra, 42; Maria Rodriguez, 65, and Maria Morales, 55.
The driver of the pickup truck was arrested a short time later after he walked away from the scene of the accident and called 911 to report that he had been carjacked, authorities say.
Jose Lule, 19, is being held in the Dallas County jail on four counts of accident involving injury. Lule, of Mineral Wells, is being held on $40,000 bail.
Authorities say three passengers in the same vehicle with Lule also fled the scene and face charges for their failure to stop and render aid.
It was unclear what role, if any, alcohol played in the accident. Police found beer bottles in the truck and lying around the truck.
Late Sunday, distraught friends gathered at the apartment where the women lived. They described them as devout members of the Jehovah's Witness Church. They described them as women of faith who often went door to door spreading the faith.
According to police, the accident happened about 9:45 p.m. Saturday night as the women's northbound Mazda tried to make a turn from Park Lane onto Webb Chapel Road. Lule's Chevy Silverado hit the driver's side door of the four-door Mazda, pushing the passenger side of the car into the metal telephone pole. The impact knocked down the metal pole.
Debris and broken glass littered the roadway.
Sandra Perez says it's busy street and accidents are common. But this one they could tell was different just from how bad it sounded all the way inside their house two doors down from the intersection.
"I heard the tires screeching," she said. "Right after, seconds (later), you heard an explosion."
She, her son and her son-in-law ran outside to help. Her daughter called 911.
Perez says it's an image she will never forget.
"You saw limbs hanging outside of the car," she said. "People were saying, 'Help. Get them out. Call 911."
Her son, Michael Barro, said, he didn't even know that the truck had hit a car until he got up close.
"I thought it was a part of the pickup truck until I got up here," he said, pointing to the site of the accident. "The car was in half."
Barro's brother-in-law and other bystanders rushed to try to get the women out of the car. The car was so crushed that they couldn't get them out.
Barro says he heard the driver of the truck talking about how hard he worked for the truck. He said the man didn't seem to care about women in the car.
Barro and his mother said Lule and the three other men in the truck simply walked away. Two walked one way. Two walked the other.
Police say witnesses had provided descriptions of the men and that helped police apprehend Lule.
"It showed me a different kind of person," he said. "The fact that you didn't want to make sure anybody else was okay...and then you walk off because you know you're in trouble. It upset me."
