Driver accused of DWI in deadly crash on SH 361

A driver has been arrested, accused of DWI, after one person was killed and others were injured in a multi-vehicle crash late Tuesday on State Highway 361, according to Corpus Christi police.

Officers from the Corpus Christi Police Department, as well as the fire chief and personnel from Nueces County Emergency Services District No. 2, responded to the two-vehicle crash on the main road leading to Port Aransas.

CCPD officer Antonio Contreras said he was dispatched at about 6:09 p.m. to the 6100 block of Highway 361 in reference to a major vehicle accident involving multiple vehicles. Officers immediately closed down the highway, and follow-up traffic investigators were called out to assist, he said.

Updates stated that one person, a 77-year-old man, died after being ejected from a vehicle involved in the crash.

Investigators found that the driver of the vehicle that caused the crash, a 32-year-old woman, was traveling south on Highway 361 when she passed a car and struck it. After hitting the car, the driver then crossed over into oncoming northbound traffic and struck another vehicle, which rolled several times, causing a passenger to be ejected from the vehicle. That passenger was the 77-year-old man.

The woman was transported to a local hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. She will be charged with intoxication manslaughter, intoxication assault with a vehicle and driving with an invalid license.

The other passengers involved were transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. This traffic incident is still under investigation.

CCPD posted an update on Facebook late Tuesday that the highway reopened at 10:37 p.m.