A local car dealership is being sued after it allowed one of its employees to borrow a truck and drive it home. That employee ended up hitting and killing a pedestrian, just blocks away from the car dealership.
According to a media statement from the Houston Police Department at the time, the accident occurred on December 30, 2020, in the 9900 block of South Main Street around 6:25 p.m. Silvestre Acevedo, who was 63 years old at the time stuck a pedestrian, later identified as James LeDoux while driving a Ford F-150 pickup. LeDoux was transported to a local hospital and was pronounced deceased. Acevedo, did remain at the scene and it was determined that he was intoxicated at the time. He was charged with driving while intoxicated. Acevedo had been charged with another DWI before this crash. Police arrested him and booked him into Harris County Criminal Court #1.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of James LeDoux’s daughter (We will not name her since she is a minor) alleges that Silvestre Acevedo was drinking while on the job and immediately before the incident. The lawsuit also alleges that Russell & Smith Ford even provided the alcohol before allowing him to drive with the Ford F-150 pickup truck despite knowing that Acevedo was impaired.
The lawsuit is seeking monetary relief of over $1 million from Russell & Smith Ford for the victim’s daughter who lost her father in this tragic accident.
The case can be found in Harris County District Court (Cause No. 202283645) and was filed on December 29, 2022.
