A Texas woman was killed when her Honda Accord was struck by a 2021 Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack being taken on a test drive by a potential buyer with a history of driving issues and a salesman who should have known better.
Police in Odessa, Texas were able to calculate that the Challenger’s average speed was between 115 and 121 mph, and it got as high as 124 mph before the crash. For reference, this road had a 35 mph speed limit. The woman, the mother of three Quma Carrillo, was ejected from her 2005 Accord Coupe and died shortly afterward, according to NewsWest9. To make matters even more horrid, one of her children, Natasha, came upon the accident scene by happenstance and found her mother dead on the street. Now, the family is suing the driver, the salesman and All American Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram of Odessa.
After the crash, the driver, Benjamin Meece, fled the scene and was found in a nearby backyard hiding underneath a sheet of plywood. He was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, collision involving death, collision involving significant bodily injury and aggravated assault causing significant bodily injury in connection with the crash, Automotive News reports. On July 30 he was charged with one count of collision involving death, two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and one count of collision involving significant bodily injury.
Both Meece and Kenneth Salas – the salesperson – were transported from the scene by ambulance. Salas was suspected of having serious injuries, and Meece was reported as having potential injuries.
Here’s more on Salas’ and All American CJDR’s roles in all of this, from Automotive News:
The lawsuit accused Salas, the salesman, of implying with social media posts of muscle cars that he would “would go the extra mile (per hour) to give customers an unforgettable sales experience” during test drives. The lawsuit quoted one post mentioning “a hell of a test drive” with a customer who bought a Ford Mustang Shelby GT350.
“While these wild rides may have helped Salas sell sports cars, they were reckless pursuits to meet All American and Lithia’s sales goals,” the civil case said. “It was only a matter of time until these sales-driven joy rides turned deadly.”
It accused the dealership of negligence in overseeing customers and test drives.”All American also owed Plaintiffs, and others, a duty to use ordinary care in investigating the competency of test drive customers, entrusting vehicles to them, and supervising their test drives once started,” the lawsuit said. “All American knew or should have known that certain of its employees, including Salas, were unfit, incompetent, and/or reckless and that their employment and entrusting vehicles to them created an unreasonable risk of harm to Plaintiffs and others. All American also knew or should have known that certain of its test drive customers, including Meece, were unfit, incompetent, and/or reckless and that entrusting them with a vehicle created an unreasonable risk of harm to Plaintiffs and others.”
The lawsuit also alleges Meece should have never been allowed behind the wheel of that Challenger. Ector Country Jain records apparently show that he had been arrested repeatedly on suspicion of vehicle-related violations from 2007 to 2023, including more than one instance of reckless driving. Here’s more from AutoNews:
“Based on Meece’s publicly available history, however, Salas and All American should never have let him behind the wheel of any vehicle, let alone a high-performance one,” according to the lawsuit filed in Ector County District Court in Texas. “Just a cursory review of local arrest records would have made clear to Salas and All American that Meece should not be trusted to drive such a car in Monday morning traffic. His many reckless driving and failure to maintain financial responsibility infractions should have set off alarms to Salas and All American.”
A spokesperson for Lithia Motors – the dealership’s parent company – declined to comment on the pending litigation but did confirm that Salas no longer worked there.