KERR COUNTY, Texas — Three members of a law enforcement motorcycle club were killed and nine were critically injured in a crash on a Texas highway Saturday afternoon, authorities said.
The motorcyclists were part of the Thin Blue Line Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club and were traveling in Kerr County in the Texas Hill Country when they died, WOAI reported.
The Kerr County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a Facebook post that the motorcycle club was on a ride to celebrate the organization’s birthday when another driver crossed the center line of the road, causing the crash.
The three members who were killed were identified as Joseph Paglia, Jerry Wayne Harbour and Michael White, WOAI reported.
Paglia was a retired officer with the Niles City Police Department. Harbour was a Houston resident who was a Thin Blue Line ambassador, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and retired pilot for Eastern Airlines. White, also a retired Army officer, was secretary of the Chicago chapter of the Thin Blue Line.
Kerr County Sheriff Rusty Hierholzer told KENS that the driver who caused the crash was intoxicated.
The driver was identified as Ivan Robles Navejas, Hierholzer said. The sheriff said Navejas was charged with DWI, multiple counts of intoxication manslaughter and multiple counts of intoxication assault.
In a statement, David Weed, spokesperson for the Thin Blue Line Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club, said it was “with great sadness” that he announced the deaths of the three club members.
" Please join Thin Blue Line LEMC and Law Enforcement from around country in praying for these brave men and their families,” Weed said. “These men spent their lives serving our country and their communities with valor and honor.”
Cox Media Group