Raju Patel Killed, Osiel Bermudez Milian Injured in Alleged DWI Accident in Austin, TX
UPDATE (August 1, 2024): Further statements from the authorities identified the occupants of the SUV as 26-year-old Raju Patel and 33-year-old Osiel Bermudez Milian. Raju Patel was reportedly the passenger in the SUV killed due to the accident. Bermudez Milian was the driver who reportedly had serious injuries. Authorities also clarified they believe alcohol was the intoxicant involved in the accident. As I mentioned below, that makes it important to find out if a local alcohol provider illegally over-served the intoxicated driver. It remains to be seen if authorities have made progress toward that.
Austin, TX — July 4, 2024, one person was killed and one person was injured in an alleged intoxicated driver accident at 1:00 a.m. on Research Boulevard.
Authorities said in preliminary statements that the crash happened along northbound lanes of Research (U.S. 183) off the intersection of Duval Road.
It appears that two people were in an SUV disabled along Research at the time. Another vehicle going the same direction crashed into the SUV, killing the SUV passenger and critically injuring the driver. The other driver had reportedly minor injuries.
Currently, authorities accuse the second driver of being intoxicated at the time of the accident. If that's true, was alcohol the intoxicant? Believe it or not, this makes a big difference legally for those affected by a DWI crash.
Alcohol often involves an alcohol provider, who may be responsible for their role in a crash if the intoxicated driver responsible was someone they illegally over-served. At 1:00 a.m., the chances a drunk driver was coming from a local bar are incredibly high. Of the hundreds of cases against negligent alcohol providers I've handled, most were during these early morning peak hours. So if authorities aren't looking into this possibility, they could be pinning all of the blame on one person when there could be multiple parties who need to be held accountable for someone losing their life.
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