Woman Dies Following Rollover Crash In NE El Paso

A weekend drive turned tragic for one El Paso couple after police say another driver ran a stop sign and plowed into the couple’s SUV.

The crash happened shortly after one o’clock Saturday afternoon at the intersection of Roanoke and Joe Herrera in northeast El Paso.

45-year-old Sharon Lindsey, the passenger in the SUV that was hit, died in the crash. Her husband, 45-year-old Ronald Lindsey, was driving, but his injuries were not serious.

According to police, the 31-year-old driver in the other SUV plowed through not just the stop sign at Roanoke and Joe Herrera, but also through another stop sign just a block away.

Neighbors say that while this would happen all the time, it usually doesn’t end with someone dead. “We just heard a big boom and everyone yelled, ‘car crash, car crash’, so we took off running,” said one neighbor, adding, when we came outside, we heard a woman screaming and little kids screaming, and we were just like (gasp).”

“The sound was like a big boom like when they do the testing at McGregor range; that’s how it sounded,” said another neighbor.

“My grandpa yells, ‘accident, accident’, so we all ran out and we saw the car tipped,” said Morgan Garcia.

The two mangled SUVs left the Garcia family at a loss for words. Police say the 31-year-old driver of the SUV that hit the Lindsey’s vehicle ran through a stop sign and plowed into the passenger side, killing Sharon.

Investigators say the Lindseys were wearing their seat belts, but that did little to protect Sharon from the violent impact.

“She didn’t know where she was at, so they were telling her ‘you’ve just been in a serious car accident’,” said neighbor Andy Garcia.

Dozens of neighbors, drivers in the area – even the mailman – rocked the SUV back and forth to try and get it back up on its wheels. Even when they finally managed to do that, they still couldn’t free Sharon.

Rescue crews were forced to use the jaws of life to finally get her out and get her help, but she later died at William Beaumont Army Medical Center.

Inside the other SUV were a 31-year-old mother and her two children – just 8 and 4 years old. “The mother that hit them, she was like, ‘my children, my children’, and they had neck braces,” said Morgan.

Police say they’re still not sure if they were buckled in, but among the deflated air bags and beach towels, there was no sign of car seats.

“And if you talk to anyone in the neighborhood, they’ll say there’s an accident at least once a month,” said Andy.

As investigators try to piece together what happened, neighbors say they’re terrified that one day it will be one of their own they try to save. “I was just scared, thinking it could have been one of our loved ones out there,” said Teresa.

Investigators say the woman who ran the stop sign was definitely going faster than the posted speed limit, but they add they won’t know for sure what charges she may face until they complete their investigation.