By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
A well-known local ultra-cyclist is home from the hospital and beginning his recovery after his bicycle collided with a vehicle on U.S. Highway 90 earlier this week.
Val Verde County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Jesus Lopez Jr., who investigated the collision, said no citations or criminal charges will be filed against the motorist whose vehicle struck cyclist Dexter “Dex” Tooke.
Lopez said he was dispatched to the scene of the accident at 7:54 a.m. Monday.
“The collision occurred on U.S. Highway 90 West, right in front of Rio Grande Mini-Storages. The call came in as a vehicle versus pedestrian accident,” Lopez told the 830 Times on Friday.
Lopez said when he arrived on-scene, he saw an older man lying on the pavement on the inside lane of the highway.
“There were two (Texas) National Guardsmen with him, along with several other people, trying to stop traffic. When they stopped to render aid, the man was talking and coherent, but wheezing when he breathed,” Lopez said.
Lopez said he approached the prone man, later identified as Tooke.
“I started asking him, ‘Who are you? Do you know where you are? Where are you coming from? Do you know what day it is?’ He was able to answer those questions, but he answered slowly. He was not able to tell me what had happened,” Lopez said.
He said the two Guardsmen also pointed out the driver of the vehicle that had struck Tooke.
Lopez said he next spoke to the driver of the 2018 Dodge Journey, identified as Maria Longoria of Del Rio, who was traveling southwest toward Del Rio.
“She was accompanied by her two children, and she was on her way to drop them off at school,” Lopez said.
“She says that she saw a red blinking light as she was coming into town . . . She said she thought to herself, ‘What is that?’ and she slowed down. As she was slowing down, all of a sudden, he (Tooke) just veered into her lane of travel, the outside lane of traffic closest to the shoulder, and she said although she had slowed down, she wasn’t able to fully brake because of her children in the back of the vehicle, and she ended up hitting him,” Lopez said.
The sergeant said damage on Longoria’s vehicle and statements from three witnesses corroborate her account of the accident.
“The two National Guardsmen who were there said they had been driving right behind Ms. Longoria on the inside lane, and they were on the inside lane and said for whatever reason, he veered into her lane, and that’s when he got hit,” Lopez said.
“EMS got there, and they evaluated the man and took him to the hospital,” Lopez said.
Lopez said Longoria was not cited in connection with the collision, and no criminal charges are being considered in connection with the incident.
Lopez said he has not spoken with Tooke about the collision.
Lopez said Tooke carried a card with a number to call in case of an emergency. That number was for Tooke’s wife, he said, and noted the sheriff’s office dispatcher contacted her shortly after the accident.
“It wasn’t until she showed up that I really realized who the injured cyclist was,” Lopez said, recalling that “years back,” he and Tooke had attended an emergency medical technician class together.
Tooke, writing on his Facebook page on Thursday, thanked local friends for their “prayers and worries.”
“My injuries include concussion, subarachnoid bleed, severe vertigo and of course road burn. The neurosurgeon thinks the bleed will self absorb on its own in time so surgery was not necessary. They released me from the hospital yesterday. Starting a recovery. But of course the bike is toast!!!” Tooke wrote.
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