By Mike Tolson (c) 2008 Houston Chronicle www.chron.com
A band member and a passenger on the bus that crashed with Emilio Navaira at the wheel have sued the Tejano singing star in state court because of the injuries they suffered.
Daniel Sandoval, drummer with the Grupo Rio band, and Pedro Perez, a relative of another band member, are asking for 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 March 23 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. 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."
Damages sought
The sentiment changed with the lawsuit last week. The suit asks for unspecified damages for what it alleges are "serious, permanent and disabling injuries."
Navaira, 45, had a blood-alcohol content of 0.19 — more than twice the legal limit — while driving the tour bus, according to a report made public by the Bellaire Police Department.
He could face charges of DWI or felony intoxication assault for injuring five bus passengers. He also did not have the type of license required to legally 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 states.
Navaira and his band had performed at a Houston club hours before the crash and were returning to San Antonio when the accident occurred. At the time it was reported that only Navaira was hurt seriously in the accident.
He spent a month at Memorial Hermann Hospital and was later 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 phone calls from the Houston Chronicle. Navaira's attorney could not be reached for comment.
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."
Sandoval said he ended up with stitches to close cuts on his head and back.
"I am doing OK," he said. "What is hurting is my back. It was really bruised."
Pedro Perez was traveling on the bus with his grandson, bajo sexto player Eddie Perez. In a March 25 article in the San Antonio Express-News, the younger Perez said his grandfather was not hurt.
Navaira has twice been arrested for driving while intoxicated.
After the second arrest, he signed an affidavit saying he did not own an automobile.
That spared him from having to equip his vehicle with an ignition interlock, an alcohol-detection device into which a person must breathe before starting his car, and a standard condition of bond when facing a second DWI charge.
