HOUSTON – A 43-year-old man has been arrested for driving while intoxicated after fatally striking two men and injuring a woman while they were walking on a roadway in north Harris County Friday, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said.
It happened in the 400 block of Rankin Road at around 1 a.m.
According to HCSO, the group was walking in the westbound direction when a black Chevy Tahoe truck struck them. The driver, identified as Bioisinetta Sams, continued down the roadway but returned to the scene, investigators said.
Deputies said a man in his 20s died at the scene, a man in his 40s was transported to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead, and a woman in her 20s was hospitalized with broken bones. Authorities have been in contact with the woman, however, they are still working to identify the two men who died.
“I ask that the Houston area, Harris County, get behind these families when we identify them and support them. I can only imagine what they’re going through,” Captain McConnell said.
Authorities issued a blood warrant and charged Sams with driving while intoxicated.
The area is reportedly not well-lit and doesn’t have any sidewalks. There have been three auto-pedestrian crashes between the 300 and 500 block of Rankin since Jan. 1, investigators said.
“This is a common problem here in this stretch and throughout Harris County,” McConnell said. “We need to get people out of the roadway and we need to get drivers to be more attentive.”
The case has been referred to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.