No Fracking Way

Frack Trucker Kills Boy on Bike. Same Frackers Videod Dumping . . .

by Chip Northrup on April 8, 2014

That’s right, the same frack truck company – 3 Star Daylighting –  that was caught on a video earlier this week dumping frackwaste on a Fort Worth freeway - ran over a boy last August while driving to a Chesapeake frack site. The frack truck driver said he didn’t know he hit the boy. Right. Boy’s name was Deston Bibbs. Add him to the List of the Harmed.

How much of this fracking nonsense do you want in your town ? 

Frack Trucker Kills 14 Year Old Boy in Ft Worth

BY BILL MILLER

wmiller@star-telegram.com

FORT WORTH — Investigators believe a fracking wastewater truck fatally struck a teenage bike rider in far south Fort Worth in April and have concluded there is no evidence that the driver knew what happened, police reported this week, since the driver told police he didn’t know he hit the boy – and the police believe him.

Deston Bibbs, 14, died at 11:15 a.m.  at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, the Tarrant County medical examiner reported.

Deston was hit while riding a bike about 9:20 p.m. at the intersection of Sycamore School and Crowley roads.

At first, detectives in the police traffic investigation unit did not know who struck the boy because the driver did not stop and no witnesses came forward.

But, based on video taken by a red-light camera at the intersection, they narrowed the possibilities to an 18-wheeler belonging to frack waste hauler 3-Star Daylighting. 

Matt Barton, safety manager for 3-Star Daylighting, said the company would have no comment.

The findings were described in a “summary” released Thursday by police. The detective who wrote the summary was not identified.

The findings describe how police viewed video taken by security cameras at nearby businesses. But none showed the collision, though detectives got a break with video from a red-light camera.

“Several vehicles can be seen making the right turn without any pause or hesitation,” the detective said in the summary. “Approximately halfway through the video, an 18-wheeler (commonly referred to as a ‘frack truck’) can be seen making the right turn to head southbound on South Crowley Road.”

About 40 seconds later, a woman can be seen parking her car to “investigate what she thought was a wheelchair left in the roadway,” the detective wrote.

“She soon realized that it was a young child and she immediately called 911 and attempted to get help from the nearby vehicles,” the detective said.

The Fort Worth chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a national civil rights group, publicly objected to the findings early Saturday morning.

“We believe the only way the driver could not have known he ran over a child on a bike was because he was not paying attention,” Rev. Kyev Tatum, the group’s president, said in a statement.

“Negligence is not an excuse to kill a child.”

The group wants the truck driver’s name and driving history to be released.

“We are left with more questions than answers. We are requesting an independent federal investigation,” Tatum said.

Chesapeake Energy has a gas well site in the 3600 block of Sycamore School Road. Investigators learned that it “was serviced that night by ‘3-Star Daylighting LP’ Trucking company.”

“Upon seeing the 18-wheeler, and comparing the tire tread marks left on the clothing of Mr. Bibbs, it was immediately apparent that the tire tread matched the clothing marks,” the detective wrote.

Investigators believe that Bibbs had been riding east through a field parallel to Sycamore School road. The truck, also eastbound, was in the far right lane preparing to turn south onto Crowley Road.

As the teen attempted to turn north onto Crowley Road, the truck was turning south, according to the summary.

The truck hit Deston, “knocking him down and then driving over his body,” according to the detective.

The summary stated, the detective questioned the driver who said he was “unaware” that he had hit anything and “provided a written statement stating as much.” (Meaning he lied in writing, at the advice of his attorney, to get out of a vehicular manslaughter charge. . . )

Deston was a seventh-grader at H.F. Stevens Middle School in Crowley, according to his obituary. 

frack victim

 

No Charges Filed in Hit-and-Run

by MONIKA DIAZ  WFAA

Posted on August 1, 2013 at 11:03 PM

Updated Wednesday, Oct 30 at 10:14 AM

Gallery

SEE ALL 3 PHOTOS »

FORT WORTH — It’s a busy intersection at Sycamore School and Crowley Roads in Fort Worth, but it’s hard to miss the flowers and crosses on one corner. The neighborhood hasn’t forgotten Deston Bibbs.

“It hit home in my heart seriously,” said a friend, Sherika Jones.

Deston, 14, was run over April 25 while he was riding his bike. The incident happened around 9:20 p.m. The teen died from his injuries the day after.

The driver who allegedly hit him was a mystery, until now. Documents obtained by News 8 show police found the driver five weeks after the deadly accident.

While surveillance video from a gas station and a dry cleaning business at the intersection offered no clues, the city’s red light camera on Sycamore School Road did. It records eastbound traffic.

The video footage does not show the crash, but 40 seconds before Deston’s body was found, the camera caught an 18-wheeler making a turn to head south on Crowley road. Investigators suspected it was a truck possibly transporting water to or from from a gas well site nearby.

According to the documents, 3-Star Daylighting, a trucking company in Cresson, was servicing the well that night.

Police went to the company and located the truck, No. 110 on May 21. The documents show that the tire tread matched the marks left on Deston’s clothes. The unnamed driver met the case investigator on June 3 and was interviewed.

“They stated they were unaware that they had hit anything that night, and provided a written statement staying as much,” the officer wrote.

For Jones, who lived next to Deston and his family, the news broke her heart.

“A person taking somebody else’s life, regardless if you feel you didn’t know you actually hit something or somebody, you are still going to stop and check,” she said. “Anything, you never know. It hurts. It could have been one of my kids.”

“I do not believe, nor can I prove that the driver knew they were involved in an accident and thus did not intentionally or knowingly leave the scene,” the investigator stated in the documents.

News 8 called the trucking company for comment, but officials told us they could not provide any information.

We also contacted Deston’s family, but did not receive a response.

E-mail mdiaz@wfaa.com

 

 

{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

Vera Scroggins April 8, 2014 at 9:08 am

OMG ! this company is in deep trouble; I talked with the Safety Manager Matt Barton, the other day about
the first incident of “brine” being spilled on the highway and now this !! What are the odds !!

Reply

Kim Feil April 8, 2014 at 9:56 pm

Leave a Comment

WP-SpamFree by Pole Position Marketing

Previous post:

Next post: