Staff report

The Texas Department of Public Safety received a report of a multiple vehicle crash at 11:30 Thursday on Interstate 10 in Orange County. The crash occurred near mile marker 859.

Preliminary reports indicate that a 2018 Dodge pickup truck was traveling eastbound on Interstate 10 in Orange County when the driver, traveling at an unsafe speed for weather conditions, lost control and struck a prisoner transport van. After the impact, the Dodge hit the inside concrete barrier and was then struck by a commercial motor vehicle.

The driver of the Dodge pickup truck, Albert Rutledge Jr., 50, of Vidor, and the driver of the 18-wheeler were not injured in the crash.

The driver of the prisoner transport van, Serina Watts, 37, of Tennessee, was not injured. However, the six prisoners were transported to a local hospital to be evaluated as a precaution.

All eastbound traffic lanes of Interstate 10 were closed for about an hour, but have since reopened.

Rutledge was issued a traffic citation for unsafe speed.