3 Members Of Thin Blue Line Motorcycle Club Killed In Suspected Drunk Driving Crash
At least three members from the Thin Blue Line Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club were killed and nine injured after an alleged drunk driver in Texas crashed into them Saturday, July 17.
The bikers were out riding on highway 16 in Kerrville, about 65 miles northwest of San Antonio, at around 5 p.m. EDT, when the allegedly intoxicated suspect going in the opposite direction veered over the median strip and struck them, Kerr County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
"They were on a ride in the Texas Hill Country and were on Highway 16, south of Kerrville when another person crosses the center stripe," they said in a statement posted on their Facebook page.
The nine members, three men and one woman, who were injured were taken to a hospital in critical condition.
The motorcycle club had gathered in Bandera, Texas for the weekend to celebrate the group’s 11th birthday, ABC News reported, citing a spokesperson from the club David Weed. Weed said in a statement that the dead were identified as Joseph Paglia, who served as a president of the group’s Chicago chapter, Jerry Wayne Harbour, a retired U.S. Army veteran who served as a national ambassador and worked as the secretary for the Chicago chapter, and Michael White, who served as a national ambassador for the organization.
The nine people injured in the crash weren’t identified. Texas Department of Public Safety, the agency leading the investigation, told ABC News, it didn't identify the suspect. Sgt. Orlando Moreno from the department and added that the driver hit at least six motorcycles.
The sheriff’s office said that the suspect was taken into custody on intoxicated manslaughter and intoxication assault charges.
The Thin Blue Line Law Enforcement club comprises of both active and retired professionals from law enforcement and military services. "Please keep our brothers with the Thin Blue Line Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club in ya'lls prayers," the statement from the Sheriff’s office read.
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