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Daniela Nicol Lute

Age : 25

Gender : Female

Race : White

Date : 08/07/2021

Location : Interstate 35 at Walzem Road

City : San Antonio

County : Bexar

State : Texas

Agency : San Antonio Police Department

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Bystander killed by police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

REASON FOR CHASE: Bystander killed after San Antonio police pursued a wrong-way driver reported traveling approximately 90 mph.
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NARRATIVE:
On 08/07/2021, 25-year-old Daniela Nicol Lute was killed when a Ford F-350 driven the wrong way on Interstate 35 crashed head-on into the Nissan Rogue she was driving near Walzem Road in San Antonio. Her friend Diana Rubio, who was riding with her, was also killed.
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San Antonio police received multiple 911 calls reporting a Ford F-350 traveling the wrong direction on Interstate 37. SAPD's Eagle helicopter located the truck and followed it while officers attempted to intercept the driver on the ground. The truck continued at approximately 90 mph and eventually entered Interstate 35.
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At approximately 2:45 a.m., the F-350 crashed head-on into Lute's Nissan Rogue in the southbound lanes of I-35 near Walzem Road. Lute and Rubio suffered fatal blunt-force injuries. The truck overturned and caught fire; its driver survived.
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Lute was a registered nurse who earned her bachelor's degree in nursing from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi in 2018. Her parents described her nursing work as extending well beyond medical care, saying she acted as a counselor, protector and friend to her patients. She loved hiking, running and soccer, and Friedrich Wilderness Park was one of her favorite places.
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Family and friends subsequently held memorial gatherings for Lute and Rubio, including a gathering at the crash location and a celebration of their lives at Friedrich Wilderness Park.
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DISPOSITION:
Ricardo Rodriguez was charged with two counts of intoxication manslaughter. A Bexar County grand jury subsequently indicted him, alleging that he caused the deaths of Daniela Lute and Diana Rubio by operating a vehicle while intoxicated and crashing into their vehicle.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The San Antonio police officer(s) involved in attempting to intercept Rodriguez were not publicly identified in the reporting located.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2021/08/07/fiery-wrong-way-crash-with-suspected-drunken-driver-kills-two-women/
https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2021/08/09/parents-of-beloved-san-antonio-nurse-killed-in-wrong-way-crash-shares-her-life-story/
https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2021/08/15/family-friends-gather-to-honor-lives-of-two-women-killed-in-wrong-way-crash/
https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/GoFundMe-set-San-Antonio-woman-killed-in-crash-16374236.php
https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/San-Antonio-remembrance-nurse-killed-car-crash-16379608.php
https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/San-Antonio-nurse-drunken-driver-wrong-way-crash-16375015.php
https://www.puenteandsons.com/obituaries/daniela-lute
https://www.bexar.org/CivicAlerts.asp?AID=919