Hidalgo County, TX — December 16, 2023, one person was killed and Cassandra Garces and two others were injured in a possible drunk driver accident on Mile 2 East.

Current public information says that the crash occurred at around 11:00 p.m. near the intersection of North Mile 2 East Road and Beech Avenue.

According to officials, 30-year-old Cassandra Garces was the driver of a Dodge Durango going southbound along Mile 2 East. From the oncoming lane, authorities say a northbound Hyundai Elantra crossed the center line and crashed head-on into Cassandra Garces's vehicle.

Due to the collision, Garces had apparently serious injuries while a teenager in the vehicle had possibly minor injuries. From the other vehicle, the 31-year-old man driving the Hyundai sustained fatal injuries and a 52-year-old woman had serious injuries.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

Right now, statements show that investigators suspect the driver of the Hyundai may have been drinking. While drunk driving isn't confirmed right now, this late at night on a Saturday, it wouldn't at all be surprising to see evidence prove this was indeed a drunk driving crash. That usually leads to people calling for serious consequences against those responsible for the crash—rightfully so. But if the allegedly drunk driver isn't around to face those consequences, people may think that's the end of story. In reality, though, there can be an accomplice to drunk driving wrecks that often slips through the cracks: an alcohol provider who over-served the drunk driver.

Let me put this into perspective. Many of the hundreds of alcohol-related accident victims our firm has helped over the years were injured late at night or just after midnight. The statistics on drunk driving crashes back up what we've seen. There's a reason that police forces set up sobriety check-points late at night on the weekends. We all know what the problem is, and we do what we can to put a stop to it.

Unfortunately, with the exception of the occasional anonymous tip or sting operation, the businesses selling alcohol (often irresponsibly) rarely see consequences until after their actions have already resulted in people getting hurt or killed. In fact, there have been multiple situations where the only reason a negligent alcohol provider faced charges or fines was because we were investigating them for a personal injury claim, and we shared our findings with the authorities.

Maybe evidence will ultimately show there are no negligent alcohol providers involved in this deadly crash. Even then, ruling out that possibility is preferable to the alternative of letting a bad bartender or bad bar off the hook for breaking the law and contributing to a serious crash.