Should've seen this one coming.
I also guess the fellow doesn't want to be in Emilio's band anymore.
Emilio Inc. sued by 2 bus riders
By MikeTolson: Houston Chronicle
HOUSTON — A band member and another passenger on the bus that crashed with an allegedly intoxicated Emilio Navaira at the wheel have sued the famed Tejano star in state court because of the injuries they suffered.
Daniel Sandoval, drummer with the Grupo Rio band, and Pedro Perez, the grandfather of band member Eddie Perez, seek unspecified damages from Emilio Inc., the singer's corporate alter ego. The suit, which does not name Navaira individually, was filed last week in Houston and assigned to the district court of Judge Caroline E. Baker.
Two days after the crash, in which Navaira suffered a life-threatening brain injury, members of his band voiced nothing but support as he lay in a coma in a Houston hospital.
At that time, Sandoval, at home recovering from head and back injuries of his own, said he recalled little of the crash on West Loop 610. At about 5 a.m., Navaira lost control of the tour bus and crashed into traffic barrels near an intersection. Navaira flew through the windshield and the bus flipped on its side.
“I don't know what happened,” Sandoval said at the time. “I don't know if Emilio fell asleep, but he is in my prayers. I don't blame him for nothing.”
That sentiment changed with the lawsuit last week. The suit asks for unspecified damages for what it alleges are “serious, permanent and disabling injuries.”
Perez is the grandfather of bajo sexto player Eddie Perez, and initial reports said he was not hospitalized after the crash.
Navaira, 45, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.19 — more than twice the legal limit — while driving the tour bus that crashed early March 23, according to a report made public by the Bellaire Police Department. He could face charges of driving while intoxicated or felony intoxication assault for injuring five passengers on the bus. He also did not have the type of license required to drive the vehicle.
“Defendant was intoxicated well beyond the legal limit to operate a vehicle, was not licensed or properly trained, and was not properly rested to drive that night,” the lawsuit says.
Navaira and his band had performed at a Houston club hours before the crash and were returning to San Antonio. At the time, it was reported that only Navaira was seriously hurt.
Navaira and his band had performed at a Houston club hours before the crash and were returning to San Antonio. At the time, it was reported that only Navaira was seriously hurt.
He spent a month at Memorial Hermann Hospital and later was transferred to the Institute for Rehabilitation and Research, where he is recovering from a significant brain injury.
The attorney for Sandoval and Perez, David L. Jones of Corpus Christi, did not return calls seeking comment. Navaira's attorney could not be reached either.
Sandoval said in a March interview that he was awake and standing next to one of the bunks in the bus when the accident happened.
“I don't remember anything. I blacked out,” Sandoval said. “When I woke up, I was trapped under the front floor. I was losing so much blood from my head I thought I was going to die.”
Navaira has been arrested twice on charges of driving while intoxicated. After the second arrest, he signed an affidavit saying he did not own a car. That spared him from having to equip his vehicle with an ignition interlock, an alcohol-detection device that a person must breathe into before starting and a standard condition of bond when facing a second DWI charge.
