One person is dead following a two-vehicle wreck early this morning on West Waco Drive between 36th and 37th streets involving a woman who had contact with Waco police at least three times within a 19-minute period leading up to the crash, according to authorities.

The identity of the deceased has not been released. The gender and age of the individual is not known because of the condition of the body.

Waco firefighters and police examine the scene of a fatal two-vehicle wreck on West Waco Drive between 36th and 37th streets Friday morning.
Duane A. Laverty / Waco Tribune-Herald

According to police, a passenger in a white SUV involved in the wreck told police the driver reached speeds of 120 to 130 mph before rear-ending the truck near the 36th Street and Waco Drive intersection.

The force of the impact caused the truck to flip and catch fire, officials said.

The driver of the truck is deceased, according to authorities. Two women in the other vehicle have been taken to Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center. Their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
Their identities have not been released.

Police said the driver of the vehicle had repeated contact with officers leading up to the accident.

According to Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton, authorities were notified of a disturbance involving a suspicious person at about 6:15 a.m.

Officers responded, but didn’t find anyone.

Minutes later, the driver of the SUV arrived at the Waco police headquarters, demanding a glass of water. She was apparently angry that she had been picked up on traffic warrants the day prior, Swanton said.

An officer who had been dispatched to the disturbance call returned to the station, and recognized the vehicle as the one described in the disturbance. When he spoke to the woman, she again demanded a glass of water and became belligerent, Swanton said. At one point, she also requested an asthma inhaler, he added.

Her behavior prompted the officer to handcuff her and run her through records. She was not wanted on any warrants, Swanton said, and the officer determined she was neither under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

The woman was not visibly displaying any symptoms of a medical or mental health episode, and was not threatening harm to herself or others, he added.

A friend of the woman who was with her offered to take her home. Officers had no legal justification to detain the driver, and so they were released at 6:25 a.m., Swanton said.

Shortly after, officers responding to an unrelated burglary call spotted the SUV stopped in the street on at least two occasions, once at a green light at North 18th and Waco Drive and once at North 23rd and Waco Drive, according to police. Officers stopped to ask her about why she was stopped, and the woman again asked for water.

Somewhere between 23rd and 36th, the driver picked up speed to an estimated 120 to 130 mph, the passenger of the SUV told investigators.

A call about the wreck was received by dispatchers about 14 minutes after the women left the police station, at 6:39 a.m.

The person in the truck was pronounced dead at the scene by Justice of the Peace Kristi DeCluitt.

The body has been sent to Dallas for an autopsy.

A criminal investigation is under way, Swanton said.