Dashcam footage recovered from an 18-wheeler shows the driver was backing down a highway ramp prior to a fatal early-morning crash that killed a Garland woman on Interstate 30 last week, according to court documents.
Khasan Begbaev, 39, of Brooklyn, New York, was arrested Friday and charged with second-degree felony manslaughter in connection with the crash on September 4.
Fatal I-30 crash
According to an arrest warrant affidavit from the Mesquite Police Department, at 3:17 a.m., emergency workers arrived at the transition ramp from westbound I-30 to northbound Interstate 635, where a brown Chevrolet Equinox was buried beneath the tail of a Freightliner semi-trailer. Soon after the incident, the SUV caught fire, necessitating the extinguishment of the flames before the victim could be extricated.
The SUV’s driver, 33-year-old Lisa Maldonado of Garland, was brought to Parkland Memorial Hospital and died at 4:35 a.m.
BeGbaev first told detectives that he took the wrong exit while trying to get to Austin and was driving slowly in the left lane with his hazard lights on to transfer lanes. In a written statement, he claimed Maldonado hit his trailer at high speed as he attempted to turn right.
However, authorities checking the truck discovered a dashcam mounted on the front windshield with black tape covering the screen. After getting consent to examine the device, an investigator examined the video files.
According to police, the video footage showed the semi-truck coming to a stop on the ramp at 2:32 a.m. and slowly reversing down the highway while other vehicles passed on the right. According to the affidavit, video footage shows Maldonado’s vehicle colliding with the rear of the backup semi at 2:34 a.m., after which the truck briefly paused before driving ahead a short distance.
Both Texas and New York state statutes expressly forbid backing up on a controlled-access highway or its shoulders. In court documents, investigators stated that Begbaev, a licensed commercial driver, knowingly ignored an unjustified risk by backing down the ramp late at night.
Begbaev was checked at the scene by a drug recognition expert, who detected no symptoms of impairment. He volunteered for a blood draw before being booked into the Mesquite City Jail.
The Mesquite Police Department’s Traffic Unit is still investigating the crash.
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