First Traffic Fatality Occurs Just Hours After Beginning 2011

Investigators from El Paso Police Department responded to the first fatal traffic accident of the year just a few hours after midnight on New Years Day.

Theodore Gersky, 21, was driving east on Montana Avenue when police said he ran a red light at Loop 375 and was struck by another truck.

Gersky was not injured. The driver of the truck, 57-year-old Jorge Torres, died at the scene.

Investigators said speed, alcohol, and failure to stop for a red light signal as factors in this collision.

Gersky was arrested and booked into the El Paso County Jail on charges of Intoxicated Manslaughter with a $25,000 bond.