Web Posted: 03/16/2006 05:36 PM CST
Roger Croteau
Express-News Staff Writer


In a wild series of mishaps that started with a loose tailgate and ended with a grass fire Wednesday night, two Seguin police cars were destroyed, at least two cows were killed, three suspected undocumented immigrants were jailed and Interstate 10 was closed.

OK, pay attention — this is complicated. At about 9:45 p.m., the gate fell open on an 18-wheeler hauling cattle eastbound on the interstate near the Texas 123 Bypass in Seguin.

“Cows started being deposited on the highway,” said Seguin Police spokeswoman Maureen Watson.

Five or six cows hit the road. One was struck by another 18-wheeler and dragged about a half mile. Another was hit by a minivan. Both animals died, blocking the highway amid the remaining injured cows.

Texas Department of Public Safety troopers arrived and started clearing the scene, using a truck to drag the dead cows off the road and rounding up the live ones.

That's when a pickup, reported stolen in Houston, sped through the accident scene, almost hitting a DPS trooper directing traffic, Watson said. A short chase ensued. Three men abandoned the pickup and ran into the brush along the highway.

Two Seguin patrol cars that had joined the chase parked amid the grass along the highway, and the officers jumped out and chased the fugitives. The three were caught and brought to the Guadalupe County jail. Watson said officers believed they were undocumented immigrants, but their names and charges against them were not available Thursday afternoon.
When the officers returned the prisoners to their patrol cars, however, they saw that heat from the engines had sparked a grass fire that torched both vehicles, one of which was brand new.

Crews arrived to fight the rapidly spreading fire, and Interstate 10 was closed in both directions for a short time. Eastbound lanes were closed for about 45 minutes.

The driver of the cattle truck was cited for driving with an unsecured load.

“The whole chain of events was pretty bizarre,” Watson said. “The damage to the cars was $50,000 to $60,000.”


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