A Whitney man was indicted Friday, June 7, on multiple charges related to a May 24 hit-and-run crash that left two people injured near Aquilla.
Claude Ray Woodard Jr., 55, was booked into the Hill County Jail Friday, May 31, on a third-degree felony charge of collision involving serious bodily injury. District Attorney Mark Pratt presented additional charges to a Hill County Grand Jury Friday. Woodard was indicted on two second-degree felony aggravated assault charges, one for each of the victims, in addition to the original third-degree felony charge for leaving the scene.
Pratt said that after reviewing the facts of the case, the two second-degree felony charges were appropriate to present to the grand jury along with the third-degree felony charge.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) responded to the scene on Farm Road 933 near HCR 2207 just before 10 p.m. Friday, May 24, after a passerby reported that a motorcycle was hit by a pickup, which left the scene.
The caller reported that the female passenger, later identified as Kristin Dawn Shinn, was bleeding from a partially amputated right leg. The male, identified as Connor Patrick Deveney, also suffered severe trauma to his right leg, including multiple fractures, and had a fractured rib.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, the victims were northbound on FM 933 when Deveney signaled a right turn and pulled onto the shoulder to turn into a driveway. The report indicates that the pickup driver failed to control his speed and maneuvered to the right, off of the roadway. The truck struck the right side of the motorcycle, which caused damage down the left side of the truck. The driver then fled the scene, leaving the injured victims in the roadway.
Woodard’s truck was spotted by authorities the next day, Saturday, May 25, when it was parked at End Zone Sports Bar & Grill in downtown Whitney. A Whitney police officer noticed that it had recent, extensive front left and side damage, including a missing driver side mirror. A matching mirror had been recovered by troopers the night before at the scene of the crash.
When questioned by troopers, Woodard reportedly claimed that he struck his truck with his tractor early that morning and said he was home the night before at the time of the crash.
The affidavit states that Woodard attempted to demonstrate for the trooper how the damage was caused by the tractor, but the damage did not match up to his claims.
Through their investigation, troopers learned that Woodard had been at Wolf’s Sports Bar in West on the evening of the crash and arrived at the bar in his white Ford F-150. Video evidence showed that he entered the bar with an open half bottle of whiskey and was served soda. A short time later, the video reportedly showed that Woodard went back to the vehicle and returned with an unopened bottle of whiskey and was served another soda. According to the affidavit, a Wolf’s employee reported that the bar normally sells sodas to patrons to mix their own beverage.
Through receipts and further video surveillance footage, troopers determined that Woodard left the bar at approximately 9:44 p.m., and would have been at the site of the crash at 9:58 p.m., which is when it occurred.
The affidavit states that when he was confronted with this evidence, Woodard revised his story and said he did go to Wolf’s, but he arrived home by 9:30 p.m. DPS found inconsistencies in several of Woodard’s claims, including a statement he reportedly made about throwing away the missing pieces of his truck but being unable to produce them because the trash had already been picked up. Troopers noted in the affidavit that trash would not typically run on Saturday of a holiday weekend. Several days later, he reportedly contacted DPS saying that he could produce them.
The victims are being treated for extensive injuries after Shinn was airlifted to Methodist Dallas Medical Center, and Deveney was airlifted to Baylor Scott & White – Hillcrest in Waco. As of last week, Woodard was still in the Hill County jail with bond set at $500,000.
The Lakelander 