BEAUMONT, Texas — A Vidor motorcyclist died in a Galveston hospital following a late Monday afternoon wreck along Interstate 10 west of Beaumont that closed the eastbound lanes for more than two hours.
Casey James Jones, 37, of Vidor, died at UTMB Galveston where he was flown following a multi-vehicle wreck Monday about 5:15 p.m. according to a release from the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Troopers were notified of several wrecks along the interstate near Taylor’s Bayou in west Jefferson County at about 5:15 p.m. the release said.
The first wreck, initially reported to involve three vehicles, happened when four vehicles were involved in a wreck the release said.
The driver of a Ford Ranger pickup headed westbound on Interstate 10 “failed to control his speed” and struck the rear of a Dodge pickup and then spun into the guardrail and struck a Dodge passenger car and a GMC pickup.
The Ford Ranger then crossed the center median and came to rest in the eastbound lanes of the interstate according to the release.
The next wreck happened when Jones, riding a 2003 Honda motorcycle in the eastbound lanes, “failed to control his speed” and struck the rear of a 2009 Ford pickup that had stopped because of the other wreck and the westbound Ford pickup that ended up in the eastbound lanes the release said.
The impact of Jones’ motorcycle pushed the stopped 2009 Ford pickup into the first Ford pickup.
A 2018 Honda Pilot then struck Jones’ motorcycle.
Additionally an emergency vehicle responding to the wrecks clipped the outside mirror of a stopped commercial vehicle the release said.
Note: 12News interviewed Casey Jones in May, following the March homicide of his 18-month-old son Raydyn Jones. At the time of the interview, no one had been charged in connection with Raydyn's death.
From the Texas Department of Public Safety…
At approximately 5:15p.m., the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) received a report of multiple crashes on Interstate 10, near Taylor’s Bayou, in Jefferson County.
The initial crash involved four (4) vehicles, not three (3) as originally reported. The preliminary DPS crash investigation indicates that a Ford Ranger pickup truck was traveling westbound on Interstate 10. For an unknown reason, the driver of the Ford Ranger failed to control his speed and rear-ended a Dodge pickup truck. The impact of the collision caused the Ford Ranger to spin into the guardrail and then strike a Dodge passenger vehicle and a GMC pickup truck. The momentum pushed the Ford Ranger into the eastbound traffic lanes of the Interstate. The Ford Ranger pickup truck was disabled in the eastbound traffic lanes.
A secondary collision occurred when a 2003 Honda motorcycle traveling eastbound on Interstate 10 failed to control his speed and rear-ended a 2009 Ford pickup truck that was stopped due to the disabled vehicle in the roadway. The 2009 Ford was pushed into another Ford pickup truck. The motorcycle was then struck by a 2018 Honda Pilot.
The third collision occurred as an emergency vehicle was responding to the crash and struck the outside mirror of a stopped commercial motor vehicle.
The driver of the motorcycle, 37-year-old Casey James Jones of Vidor, was transported by medical helicopter to the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston with serious injuries. Jones did not survive his injuries and was pronounced deceased by medical doctors at UTMB. He was not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash.
There were other injuries reported, but none appeared to be life threatening.
All eastbound traffic lanes of Interstate 10 were closed for a little over two (2) hours, but have since reopened.
There are no additional details available at this time.