BEAUMONT, Texas — A 32-year-old Vidor man was killed early Tuesday morning in a major three-vehicle wreck along Interstate 10 at Laurel St. in Beaumont.
Beaumont Police responded to the wreck at about 5:50 a.m. Tuesday along north/eastbound and south/westbound Interstate 10 at Laurel according to a news release from the Beaumont Police Department.
One driver, Johnathan Allen Droddy, 32, of Vidor, died at the scene according to to police.
The department's traffic unit is still investigating the wreck but police have released preliminary information about the wreck.
A box van carrying U.S. mail was traveling north/eastbound on Interstate 10 and lost control of the van the release said.
The box van struck the center divider and knocked it into the south/westbound lanes. The box van also struck a south/westbound 2016 Ford Escape driven by Droddy, killing him on impact the release said.
A GMC Sierra Pickup truck headed south/westbound was struck by the center divider but its driver was not injured police said.
The driver of the box van was taken to a Beaumont hospital for treatment according to Jefferson County Precinct One Justice of the Peace Ben Collins.
The box van driver suffered non-life threatening injuries according to police.
The west/southbound lanes of the interstate were closed for about four and half hours and the east/northbound lanes for nearly five hours. All lanes had reopened by about 11 a.m.
An autopsy has been ordered for Droddy according to Collins.
By daylight a U.S. Postal Service van was backed up near the rear of the box truck and it appeared that mail was being removed from the truck's trailer.
Texas Department of Transportation workers were also on the scene working to make emergency repairs to the center barrier which was heavily damaged in the wreck.
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
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From a Beaumont Police Department news release...
On Tuesday, October 25, 2022 at 5:50 A.M. Officers responded to IH-10 Northbound and Southbound at Laurel in reference to a fatality crash.
The Beaumont Police Traffic Unit responded and is still investigating the crash.
Preliminary information gathered from the scene revealed the operator of a box truck, transporting mail, was traveling northbound and lost control of the vehicle.
He struck a cement center divider and knocked it into southbound traffic.
A 2016 Ford Escape operated by Jonathan Allen Droddy, a 32 year old Vidor man, traveling southbound, was struck by the box truck.
Droddy was killed upon impact.
The retaining wall struck a gray GMC Sierra pick-up that was traveling southbound.
The driver of the pick-up was not injured. The driver of the box truck had non-life threatening injuries.
The crash is still under investigation.