Rowlett resident killed in motorcycle wreck
By Dan Eakin, deakin@acnpapers.com
CANTON -- A Highland Village couple and two other people were killed when a car swerved into their motorcycles about 2:30 p.m. Sunday near Canton.
Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Landon Corbett said Bruce Melvin Bricker, 51, and his wife, Shannon Rhenee Bricker, 40, were riding a motorcycle north about a mile north of Canton, when a Mustang being driven south by Jose Luis Pena, 31, of Rosharon, crossed over into the northbound lane and struck the Bricker motorcycle and another motorcycle.
Steve Austin Claterbaugh, 50, of Rowlett, and his girlfriend, Kathleen Dolores Smith, 50, of Wylie, were on the other motorcycle. All four were killed.
Pena was arrested and charged with four counts of negligent homicide. He was placed in the Van Zandt County Justice Center in Canton with bail set at $2 million by Van Zandt County Pct. 2 Justice of the Peace Ronnie Collier.
Corbett said Pena was not injured. However, Pena's girlfriend, Rosalind Ann Vela of Rosharon, near Houston, and her 3-year-old son, who were in the backseat of the Mustang, were taken to Mother Frances Medical Center in Tyler. The son was treated and released, but Vela remained in the hospital Tuesday in satisfactory condition.
Corbett said although there was a car seat in the backseat, Vela was holding her son at the time of the accident.
He said the Brickers and the other couple were traveling north on State Highway 19 after having been at the First Monday Trade Days in Canton. He said Pena, his girlfriend and her son had been visiting with relatives at Emory, about 20 miles north of where the accident occurred.
He said Pena could not give a reason for veering into the northbound lane. Corbett quoted Pena as saying, "I don't know what happened."
Corbett said a witness to the accident, who was only about three car lengths behind the Pena vehicle, said the Mustang had been traveling smoothly and correctly for a good distance before it suddenly began swerving and went into the northbound lane. Corbett said there was no evidence of a flat tire, wheel damage or a vehicle malfunction.
Funeral services for the Brickers, under the direction of Dalton Funeral Home, will be at 2 p.m. Friday at the First Baptist Church of Lewisville.
They had been residents of Highland Village for about 15 years. Bruce Bricker was a pharmacist at Wal-Mart in Denton, and Shannon Bricker was a massage therapist.
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