TEXARKANA, Texas–Data from the pickup being driven by one of two men accused of causing a woman’s death by racing last month down State Line Ave. in Texarkana had allegedly accelerated to 74 miles per hour in the second before a fatal crash.
Robert Gene Culpepper, 22, of Lockesburg, Ark., was allegedly racing a 2004 Chevy truck against a 2023 Volkswagen Tiguan being driven by Christopher Wayne Daniel, 25, at around 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 18, according to a probable cause affidavit. The two men had been stopped in side-by-side northbound lanes at the intersection of E. 9th St. when the crash occurred, killing 66-year-old Linda Reed as she attempted to cross from E. 9th to Hazel St. in a silver Honda Accord.
A Texarkana Texas Police Dept. sergeant who was traveling behind the two men in a patrol car witnessed the crash and determined that Reed had been killed. Both the Chevy and the Volkswagen sustained front end damage.
At the crash scene, Daniel allegedly told investigators that he was trying to “catch up” when the crash occurred and reportedly said, “the speed limit,” when asked what he meant by an investigator. Daniel allegedly denied he was racing the Chevy and allegedly told investigators that his engine revs because it is a sports car.
But witness accounts and data from the pickup indicated that the truck and the Tiguan were racing. One witness told investigators that she was behind the Chevy and the Volkswagen when they were stopped at the light at State Line Ave. and E. 12th St. and that they could hear the Tiguan revving its engine.
The witness reported that both vehicles rapidly accelerated and that she estimated their speed at 60 to 70 miles per hour. A second witness told police that they were also driving down State Line when the two accused drivers “created a wide gap” from her as they sped down the road.
Data acquired from the Chevy reportedly showed that he accelerated to 74 miles per hour seconds before the collision. State Line Ave. has a posted speed limit of 40 miles per hour.
Both men have been charged with racing on a highway causing death and face two to 20 years in prison if found guilty. Culpepper and Daniel are being held in the Bowie County jail. Bail for each has been set at $1 million.
The cases have been assigned to 202nd District Judge John Tidwell.
