A migrant truck driver involved in a massive Texas highway traffic crash which killed five people, including a young child and a baby, had his $1.2 million bond slashed to a mere $7,000 so he could be released on bond.
The trucking industry publication “Freight Waves” reported details of the horrific March 13 incident where a 37-year-old Solomun Weldekeal-Araya was initially charged with five counts of intoxication manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault after his 18-wheeler he was driving on Interstate 35 crashed into 17 other vehicles. Five victims were pronounced dead at the scene, including a couple with two children, while 11 others suffered injuries.
Independent journalist Sarah Fields identified the deceased family of four as Natalia Perez, Sergio López, their daughter Lylah, and baby son DiegoWhile. Austin Police originally believed Weldekeal-Araya, who did not speak English, to be intoxicated after he allegedly failed a field sobriety test. However, subsequent testing revealed that the Dallas-based trucker had no drugs or alcohol in his system.
It appears Weldekeal-Araya was not given a breathalyzer test at the crash scene but only a field sobriety test and observation for drugs or alcohol in his system and the officers evaluated him as impaired. He later tested sober at the hospital after a blood test.
The accident was caused when Weldekeal-Araya failed to slow for traffic in a temporary work zone for construction on Interstate 35, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reported. Witnesses said he just plowed his big rig through 17 different vehicles before coming to a stop.
“The truck that initiated the crash sequence was registered to a for-hire carrier, ZBN Transport LLC, out of Dallas, Texas,” NTSB investigator Kenny Bragg told reporters at a press conference. “In the coming days, the team will continue to document this temporary work zone, conduct a detailed mechanical inspection of the striking truck and collect further information from witnesses. We will also be looking into the truck driver’s employment history as a commercial driver, his entire driving history to include crash history and traffic violations, as well as his medical history for factors that may have influenced his driving.”
Judge Tamara Needles of the Travis County District Criminal Court, a Democrat, lowered the trucker’s bond from $1.2 million to just $7,000 after his attorney filed a motion demanding his client’s immediate release or a bond reduction according to CBS Austin.
Prosecutors are now arguing that the intoxication charges stem from Weldekeal-Araya’s alleged sleeplessness and possibly being on antidepressant drugs.
Journalist Fields also uncovered the man had “previously received a violation for going 63 in a 30 mph zone,” and is an asylum seeker on a work visa who “can barely speak English”. An affidavit obtained by Fox 7 states that Weldekeal-Araya mostly spoke Tigrinya, an East African language spoken in Eritrea and Ethiopia.
Fields noted the migrant only had his truck driving license for four months when the crash took place and that he has worked for shadowy trucking LLCs currently under investigation by the Department of Transportation (DOT) according to KVUE news.
A court docket revealed that Weldekeal-Araya was due in court just one week prior to the pileup for his previous speeding violation.
Weldekeal-Araya’s bond agreement prohibits him from driving commercial vehicles, surrender his travel documents, wear a location-tracking device for 90 days, submit to random urine tests, and check in with pretrial services.
Fields reported more than 700 LLC trucking companies list the same address in Signal Hill, California near Long Beach, the 2nd largest container shipping port in America. Almost 500 of those share the same phone number and an email address leading many to believe organized fraud is happening in the trucking industry hurting American trucking companies.
President Joe Biden pumped $57 million in grants into the trucking industry in 2021 with The “Biden-Harris Trucking Action Plan” working to streamline Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) issuance which it did issuing over 876,000 CDLs since January 2021. At the same time Biden also expanded programs like U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) One, a phone app, and the Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV) parole program which issued work permits to more than 531,000 migrants by September 2024, and added 70,000 H-2B visas in 2025 allowing migrants, both legal and illegal, to pursue trucking jobs. The U.S. experienced a 400% rise in freight fraud from 2022 to 2023.
In April of 2023 the potential fraud was reported to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), highlighting the improbability of so many companies operating from a single, small building in a town of 11,500 people. The Biden Administration did nothing.
Even this sketchy Signal Hill trucking company email address,WTFFMSCA@AOL.COM, is seen as publically mocking the FMCSA.
In April President Donald Trump signed an executive order saying speaking english is a non-negotiable safety requirement” for Truck drivers.
The Executive order came about one month after 37-year-old Solomun Weldekeal Araya rammed his truck into 17 vehicles after failing to stop, killing five people including a child and an infant.
Video taken after the crash appear sto show that Araya was unable to speak english
Austin Police charged with five counts of intoxication manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault.
CONCLUSION:
In April President Donald Trump signed an executive order mandating speaking English is now a non-negotiable safety requirement for truck drivers (https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/enforcing-commonsense-rules-of-the-road-for-americas-truck-drivers/). The Executive order came about one month after 37-year-old Weldekeal-Araya rammed his truck into 17 vehicles speeding through a construction zone after failing to stop, killing five and injuring 11 others.
Our news media is, once again, guilty of malpractice. President Trump signing this executive order may have been passing news to you. But the horrific reason for this EO and Democrats responsibility in this matter, both before the event and after, is where the journalistic malpractice lies. Biden and Harris made it too easy for migrants to drive big rigs on American roads and highways. This Democrat judge’s release of this mass murderer is inexcusable!
Whether he was under the influence or not is irrelevant to the fact he killed 5 innocent people!
If this guy skips the country (and I bet that is the hidden agenda plan) because of this judge, a mercenary squad should be sent out to hunt him down and 86 him like a pretty shell formation on Jim Comey’s beach!
One surviving victim of the crash has already filed a $100 million lawsuit against the three parties involved; Amazon Logistics, Inc., ZBN Transport, LLC, and Solomun Weldekeal-Araya.
© 2025 by Mark S. Schwendau
