2 people died in 2 wrecks with ghost driver on Loop 410

SAN ANTONIO – According to San Antonio police, two drivers were killed minutes apart in several accidents caused by the same car driving the wrong way on a South Side highway.

Police have identified the second driver killed as Jay Simon Mejia, 33, who was pronounced dead at 3:07 a.m. on Thursday after his vehicle was hit head-on. The driver accused of causing the wreckage was identified by officials on Thursday afternoon as 26-year-old Alejandro Montoya Rodriguez.

According to SAPD, the first crash occurred at around 2:45 AM on the eastern main lanes of Loop 410 on Roosevelt Road.

Police said a 2014 silver Mazda car was heading east on the highway when a ghost vehicle approached.

The Mazda driver swerved to miss the oncoming car and crashed into the rear of an 18-wheeler, trapping his car under the large rigging. The driver was pronounced dead at 3:04 AM and has not been identified.

Police said Rodriguez, the wrong-way driver, continued to drive west in the eastbound lanes, causing two more crashes.

Rodriguez’s car collided head-on into Mejia’s vehicle, spinning them both, officials said.

Mejia’s vehicle landed on the driver’s side in a grassy median strip between the main lanes and the access road.

Police said Rodriguez and his female passenger exited the vehicle before it caught fire.

They were both transported to the University Hospital.

Police say Rodriguez was intoxicated at the time of the crashes, and he is facing two cases of intoxication manslaughter.