Driver charged with DWI after going the wrong way on East Fwy, hitting deputies head-on, HCSO says

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- Two Harris County deputies are being praised for putting themselves in danger to stop a wrong-way driver on the East Freeway overnight near Baytown.

The head-on crash was caught on dashcam video.

The Harris County Sheriff's Office said the collision happened on I-10 near the Lynchburg exit at about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said deputies Louie Ayala and Joshua Blair were alerted to the driver going westbound in the eastbound lanes and steered their squad car into the path of the oncoming vehicle in an attempt to get the driver to stop. But the wrong-way driver kept going, colliding head-on with the patrol car.

Both deputies then got out and arrested the driver, who was not hurt. Investigators believe the driver, identified as 23-year-old Nathan Arevalo, was intoxicated.

Gonzalez said Arevalo was booked into the Harris County Jail and is facing DWI charges.

Officials said the deputies involved in the crash are a little sore but otherwise OK.

"Obviously, with a high-speed crash like that, we are very lucky they were not seriously injured or killed," HCSO Sgt. B. Bondurant said at the scene. "This could have been a very bad situation. Kudos to our patrol deputies for putting their lives on the line, preventing what could have been a fatality crash."

Blair joined the sheriff's office in 2018 and is a field training officer. Ayala graduated from the sheriff's office academy in December.