RUSK COUNTY, Texas — A Tatum man is dead following a crash involving a semi Wednesday evening.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), around 7:20 p.m., troopers responded to a two-vehicle fatal crash on Farm-to-Market Road 1716, just east of Tatum.
The investigators preliminary report indicates the driver of a 2005 Freightliner towing a semi-trailer, identified as Leonardo Ochoa, 28, of Alvarado, was traveling north on FM 1716 on the wrong side of the roadway.
At the same time, the driver of a pickup, identified as Jimmy Gaytan, 39, of Tatum, was traveling on FM 1716 in the southbound lane.
DPS says Ochoa attempted to move back into the northbound lane but his towed unit was still partially in the wrong lane when it was struck by the southbound pickup.
Ochoa was not injured in the crash.
Gaytan was was pronounced at the scene and his body was taken to a Henderson funeral home.
The crash remains under investigation.
