LUBBOCK, TEXAS — A semi-truck driver is in jail facing felony charges after investigators said his tractor-trailer rear-ended law enforcement vehicles on a south Lubbock overpass, pushing the vehicles into two Lubbock County Sheriff’s deputies and pinning them against a concrete barrier during a traffic assist that was protecting a stranded family.

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Authorities said Gregory Vaught, 57, was booked into the Lubbock County Detention Center on Dec. 20. Jail and court records cited in the reports state he was arrested Nov. 25 in Watseka, Illinois, after a Lubbock County grand jury returned an indictment charging him with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony that carries a potential punishment of two to 20 years in prison. A separate report said Illinois police arrested Vaught on Thanksgiving and he was extradited to Lubbock, where he is being held on a $50,000 bond.

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The charges stem from a Texas Department of Public Safety investigation into a crash on the overpass at the intersection of Interstate 27 and 98th Street that injured deputies Andrew Cavasos, 49, and Jorge Martinez, 36. In a news conference a day after the crash, Lubbock County Sheriff Kelly Rowe said the deputies were at the top of the overpass helping divert traffic to protect Brandon and Zane Martinez, who were changing a tire on the shoulder.

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Officials said the semi-trailer rear-ended one of the patrol vehicles, pushing it toward the deputies and pinning them against a concrete barrier. Investigators said Deputy Cavasos was pushed partially over the overpass but was pinned to the wall, preventing him from falling. Authorities said that as he dangled over 98th Street, patrons at a nearby gas station rushed to the scene and held onto Cavasos to keep him from falling while Martinez was unable to reach him, according to a Lubbock police news release. A group of good Samaritans also rushed from nearby work sites to help rescue him, according to later reporting.

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Rowe said investigators indicated the driver of the 18-wheeler, later identified as Vaught, became distracted while trying to reconnect a Bluetooth device. Rowe said the driver did not look up in time and rear-ended the sheriff’s vehicles. A civil lawsuit filed shortly after the crash alleges Vaught was working on his phone at the time and seeks at least $1 million in damages for the deputies and the family they were assisting. The lawsuit remains pending in district court, and one report said the case is set to go to trial in August.

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The criminal case remains pending as the investigation and court process continue.

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