NTSB: Man Who Hit Southwest Golfers’ Van with Truck Had Methamphetamine in System

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A man who drove a pickup truck into oncoming traffic that struck a van and killed nine people, including seven members of the University of the Southwest golf team, in March had methamphetamine in his system.

According to Jamie Stengle of the Associated Press, the National Transportation Safety Board said on Thursday that DNA testing confirmed Henrich Siemens was driving the truck at the time of the crash and toxicology tests showed the presence of methamphetamine in his blood.

The crash occurred on March 15 in West Texas as the team was heading back to campus in Hobbs, New Mexico, from a tournament in Midland, Texas. Golfers Mauricio Sanchez, Travis Garcia, Jackson Zinn, Karisa Raines, Laci Stone and Tiago Sousa, and the team’s head coach Tyler James were killed in the crash, as were Siemens and his 13-year-old son.

Sgt. Steven Blanco of the Texas Department of Public Safety said at the time that two other students, Dayton Price and Hayden Underhill, were seriously injured in the crash and transported by helicopter to a Lubbock hospital in critical condition.

During a March 17 press conference, NTSB vice chairman Bruce Landsberg told reporters an early investigation suggested that Siemens’ son was driving the truck at the time of the crash, however, Thursday’s report said investigators found that Siemens had been driving.

“It was very clearly a high speed, head-on collision between two heavy vehicles,” Landsberg said. “We have literally thousands of pictures that were taken by the various first responders and there is no question about the force of impact.”