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Diana Rubio

Age : 27

Gender : Female

Race : Black

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, 27-year-old Diana Rubio was killed while riding with her friend Daniela Nicol Lute in a Nissan Rogue that was struck head-on by a wrong-way Ford F-350 on Interstate 35 near Walzem Road in San Antonio. Both women were killed.
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San Antonio police received multiple 911 calls reporting the F-350 traveling the wrong direction on Interstate 37. SAPD's Eagle helicopter located the truck and followed it while officers on the ground attempted to intercept the driver. 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 the Nissan Rogue occupied by Rubio and Lute in the southbound lanes of I-35 near Walzem Road. Both women suffered fatal blunt-force injuries. The F-350 overturned and caught fire; its driver survived.
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Rubio and Lute were close friends. Following their deaths, relatives and friends gathered at the crash site to remember the two women and subsequently held a celebration of their lives at Friedrich Wilderness Park.
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DISPOSITION:
The wrong-way driver, Ricardo Rodriguez, was charged with two counts of intoxication manslaughter. A Bexar County grand jury subsequently indicted Rodriguez, alleging that he caused the deaths of Diana Rubio and Daniela Lute by driving while intoxicated and crashing into their vehicle.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The San Antonio Police Department officer(s) involved in attempting to intercept Rodriguez were not publicly identified.

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/2021/08/15/family-friends-gather-to-honor-lives-of-two-women-killed-in-wrong-way-crash/
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.bexar.org/CivicAlerts.asp?AID=919