James Dayton and his wife, Frances, were walking through the parking lot in front of the Wal-Mart Supercenter at 502 E. FM 351 when a woman driving a white Dodge pickup struck and dragged Lupita Guillen more than 85 feet.
“We were getting her some glasses,” Dayton said as he motioned toward his wife.
Frances said they noticed the pickup as soon as it entered the parking lot. “It was going too fast,” she said. And the driver was not looking ahead. “She seemed distracted.”
As the woman turned into the parking lane in front of Wal-Mart’s main entrance, Dayton said he heard something dragging.
He and his wife were in the lane just west of where the pickup was and he looked down to see a body caught under the vehicle.
“I ran to the truck and shouted for her to stop,” Dayton said.
Then Dayton put his training to work, dropped to the pavement and found Guillen lying face down on the pavement, her head right at the front wheel.
“I felt her and made sure she wasn’t pinned under the truck and then got the driver to back away,” Dayton said.
When the driver, Crystal Renee Cook, realized she had been dragging a woman under her vehicle, she began screaming and crying, Frances said.
It was then that Frances Dayton went to the driver and tried to comfort her. She was afraid spectators who were gathered around the truck might attack the driver.
“I found two pairs of glasses in her hand crumbled up,” Dayton said.
He and his wife had served several years in a mounted police unit at their home back in Norco, Calif. Dayton said they had worked in searches and other functions assisting lawmen before moving to Texas after he retired a dozen years ago.
“I’d had training,” he said. He stayed with the victim and kept her from moving until EMS personnel from Angel Care Ambulance Service arrived to take over her treatment.
“I believe if I hadn’t stopped her (the driver), she (the victim) would’ve been killed,” Dayton said. “I’m just glad I saw it and got her to stop.”
Dayton said the driver told those at the scene that she thought a tire was going flat after she hit the victim.
“She was looking at us. She wasn’t paying attention. She looked out of place,” Frances said of the driver.
Dayton said the driver probably would not have seen the victim if the truck had been close to her at the point of impact because the vehicle sat high. Fortunately, though, the undercarriage of the vehicle was low enough that the victim did not fall under the wheels.
Police officers said Guillen was rushed to Christus Spohn Hospital Beeville and later flown by HALO-Flight helicopter to the Corpus Christi hospital.
Sgt. Chris Vasquez, who investigated the accident, said he had been told the victim was being sedated and that she might have to undergo skin grafts.
However, Vasquez said the victim was alive and expected to recover.
Gary Kent is a reporter at the Bee-Picayune and can be reached at 358-2550, ext. 120, or at reporter@mySouTex.com.
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