Man killed in Saturday wreck on FM 1162 first fatality of 2008
By SHANNON CRABTREE scrabtree@leader-news.com

A Mexican national killed in a one-vehicle accident on FM 1162 early Saturday morning is Wharton County's first auto fatality of the year.

Emergency responders were summoned to FM 1162 about 1.9 miles south of El Campo at 4:10 a.m. Saturday to the report of a vehicle in a ditch.

Racing to the scene, EMTs and firefighters found one man inside a 1997 Ford Ranger sitting upright at the bottom of a muddy ditch on the northbound side on FM 1162. A second man was located in the mud 15 to 20 feet in front of the truck.

The vehicle reportedly had damage to its roof indicating it may have rolled at least one time.

Jose Augustine Torres Terrazas, 20, a Mexican national, may have been ejected when the vehicle crashed.

He was pronounced dead at the scene by Wharton County Justice of the Peace Precinct 2 Cynthia Kubicek at 5:55 a.m. Saturday.

His body was initially transported by Triska's Funeral Home and then taken to the Galveston County Medical Examiner's Office for autopsy.

The man still inside the vehicle and believed to be the driver was Ismael Escobar, 19, of 308 S. Mechanic in El Campo.

He was transported from the scene via El Campo EMS to Houston's Memorial Hermann Hospital.

Escobar is reportedly in stable condition suffering from a broken leg.

Neither man was wearing a seat belt, according to Investigating Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Alfred Ochoa.

By all appearances, fire officials say the wreck may have happened quite some time earlier than it was reported.

The two had been northbound on FM 1162, according to Ochoa's report, when the truck went off the right side of the road and hit a creek embankment. The cause of the wreck is still under investigation.

The second Wharton County auto fatality took place later Saturday evening (See related story, Page 2-A).