UPDATE (February 27, 2026): Additional reports have been released which identify 55-year-old Wendy McDowell—a passenger in the second vehicle who was seriously injured—and James Bradenberger—the driver of the third vehicle who may have been injured, as well. No additional information is currently available. Investigations remain ongoing.
Texarkana, TX — February 8, 2026, three people were injured in an alleged drunk driver accident in the 4400 block of South Lake Drive.
Authorities said a car collided with another vehicle when it allegedly failed to yield while exiting a parking lot. A third vehicle collided with the other two.
All three people in the second vehicle, two adults and a 9-year-old girl, were hospitalized with unspecified injuries after the crash, according to authorities. The people in the third vehicle were not injured.
The driver of the first vehicle was charged with intoxication assault after emergency personnel noticed signs he had been drinking, authorities said.
Authorities have not released any additional information about the Bowie County crash at this time.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
When I read about incidents like this one, what stands out to me isn’t just that someone was charged with intoxication assault. It’s the larger question that often goes unasked: how did things get to that point in the first place? These situations rarely begin at the crash scene. They usually begin somewhere else, earlier in the day or evening, when alcohol is served and decisions are made.
If reports are accurate and alcohol played a role here, that raises an important issue under Texas law. One of the most overlooked questions in cases like this is where the driver was drinking before getting behind the wheel. Texas dram shop law allows injured parties to examine whether a bar, restaurant or other alcohol provider may have contributed by overserving someone who was obviously intoxicated. That’s not about shifting blame away from the driver; it’s about recognizing that responsibility can extend beyond one individual when warning signs are ignored.
In many cases, law enforcement’s job is to investigate the crash itself and determine whether criminal charges are appropriate. But a criminal charge doesn’t always answer the broader civil questions. Was the driver showing clear signs of intoxication before leaving an establishment? Did anyone continue serving alcohol despite those signs? Were there opportunities to intervene that were missed? It’s not always obvious, but there may be more to this story than people realize.
When alcohol contributes to a crash that leaves the victim and others injured, the civil justice system provides a way to look deeper. Dram shop law exists because overservice is a real and recurring issue, and because the public shares the roads with patrons who were served somewhere beforehand. That’s the kind of question dram shop law is built to answer.
At the end of the day, cases like this remind me that accountability doesn’t stop with an arrest. Real accountability means examining the full chain of events that led up to the crash and asking whether it could have been prevented. Those are conversations worth having; not just for the injured party in this case, but for the broader community.
First, Texas dram shop law allows injured parties to investigate whether an alcohol provider overserved an obviously intoxicated person before a crash.
Second, a thorough investigation often requires looking beyond the police report to determine where the alcohol was consumed and what signs may have been present.
Third, many people don’t realize that legal remedies may exist outside of criminal charges, offering a way to address the broader responsibility that can accompany alcohol-related crashes.
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