A Texas woman was killed when she Honda fit was attacked by a 2021 Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack is being done on a test drive by a potential buyer with a history of driving problems and a salesperson who should have known better.
Police in Odessa, Texas were able to calculate that The challenge of The average speed was between 115 and 121 mph, and it had been as high as 124 mph earlier. collisionFor reference, this road has a speed limit of 35 mph. The woman, mother of three Quma Carrillo, was thrown from the car. Agreement 2005 Coupe and died shortly thereafter, according to West9 News. To make matters even more horrifying, one of her children, Natasha, happened to come upon the scene of the accident and found her dead on the street. Now, the family is suing the driver, the salesman, and Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram from All American in Odessa.
After the accident, driver Benjamin Meece, escape and was found in a nearby backyard hiding under a sheet of plywood. He was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, collision causing death, collision causing serious injury and aggravated assault causing serious injury in connection with the crash, Car News reported. On July 30, he was charged with one count of hit-and-run involving death, two counts of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon and one count of assault causing serious injury.
Both Meece and Kenneth Salas – sales agent – was transported from the scene by ambulanceSalas is suspected of being seriously injured, while Meece is reported to be possibly injured.
Here’s more about Salas and All American CJDR’s role in all of this, from Car News:
The lawsuit alleges that Salas, the salesman, implied in muscle car social media posts that he would “go the extra mile (every hour) to give customers an unforgettable sales experience” during test drives. The lawsuit cites one post that mentioned “an amazing test drive” with a customer who purchased a Ford Mustang Shelby GT350.
“While these wild rides may have helped Salas sell sports cars, they were reckless actions designed to achieve All American and Lithia’s sales goals,” the civil lawsuit said. “It was only a matter of time before these sales-driven fun rides turned deadly.”
The lawsuit alleges that the dealership was negligent in supervising customers and test driving vehicles. “All American also owed Plaintiffs and others a duty to use ordinary care in investigating the competence of test drive customers, assigning vehicles to them, and supervising test drives after they began,” the lawsuit says. “All American knew or should have known that certain of its employees, including Salas, were incompetent, incapable, and/or reckless and that their hiring and assigning 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 incompetent, incapable, and/or reckless and that assigning vehicles to them created an unreasonable risk of harm to Plaintiffs and others.”
The lawsuit also alleges that Meece was never allowed to drive the Challenger. Ector Country Jain’s record appears to show that he was arrested multiple times on suspicion of vehicle-related violations between 2007 and 2023, including more than one instance careless driving. This is more from Car News:
“However, based on Meece’s public record, Salas and All American should never have let him drive any vehicle, let alone a high-performance vehicle,” the lawsuit, filed in Ector County District Court in Texas, states. “A cursory review of local arrest records would have been sufficient to make it clear to Salas and All American that Meece should not have been trusted to drive such a vehicle in Monday morning traffic. His repeated reckless driving and failure to comply with financial responsibility regulations should have raised alarms for Salas and All American.”
A spokesperson for Lithia Motors — the dealership’s parent company — declined to comment on the pending lawsuit but confirmed that Salas no longer works there.
