Son of longtime El Paso restaurant owner 1 of 2 killed in East El Paso wreck

Update: Gary Hoff, the father of Garett, who was killed in a multi-vehicle collision Wednesday night in East El Paso, expressed his feelings about the incident.

“You never want to have your sibling or son or daughter die before you do,” Hoff said. “Because I would have jumped in the car in a minute to be there for them as far as that goes.”

Hoff said more awareness needs to be spread in regards to drunk driving to prevent incidents like these. He said it is the education that is the most important.

One neighbor, Danny Wilson, said he is devastated by the death of Garett, and has no tolerance for drunk driving.

“You wonder why, and that’s what drives you crazy,” Wilson said. “And as far drunk driving, I don’t have any patience.”

Hoff said he is taking this tragic incident one day at a time, and hopes an incident like this can be prevented in the future.

Previous story: Garett Hoff, the son of a longtime El Paso restaurant owner, was one of two people killed in a multi-vehicle collision Wednesday night in East El Paso.

Hoff is the son of Gary Hoff, who operated the Original Blimp restaurant for 40 years. Gary Hoff closed the restaurant in July.

El Paso Police have arrested a 47-year-old man and charged him with two counts of intoxication manslaughter in connection with the multi-vehicle collision Wednesday that killed two people.

According to the police affidavit, Sterling Ashcroft, of Fountain Hills, Arizona, was driving a Dodge Ram pickup west on I-10 in a construction zone at a high rate of zpeed in the right lane when he rear-ended an Acura Integra.

The collision forced the Acura into the left lane causing it to hit the rear of a Mercury Sable with the sable then colliding with an International Tractor trailer which was stopped due to heavy traffic.

Police say Ashcroft’s pickup continued pushing the Acura which then struck a Ford Explorer in the rear, pushing the Explorer into a Buick Le Sabre.

Garett Hoff, the 29-year-old driver of the Sable, was killed, as was a woman who was a passenger in another car. We are working with police to resolve a discrepancy over her identity.

Ashcroft also has been charged sith Unlawful Carrying of a Weapon, and Intoxication Assault.

Special Traffic Investigators determined that speed and alcohol are factors on the part of Ashcroft

These are the 33trd and 34th traffic fatalities of 2014 compared to 29 during this same time
period in 2013. His bonds totaled $626,500.

Previous story: The westbound lanes of Interstate 10 in far east El Paso opened just before 6:30 a.m. Thursday, nine hours after a deadly wreck that killed two people.

It happened at about 9:15 p.m. Wednesday night and involved a tractor-trailer and three passenger vehicles, police said.

It happened underneath the Loop 375/I-10 interchange, also the site of ongoing construction.

Drivers were forced to exit at Eastlake during the overnight hours while crews cleared the scene.

Three mangled cars and the semi could be seen as emergency crews removed at least one body from the scene.

A man and woman were seen sitting on a concrete barrier, possibly the passengers of the semi-truck. They didn’t appear to be injured.

Special Traffic Investigators were on the scene looking into what led up to the wreck.

The El Paso Police Department said via Twitter that more information will be released Thursday.