In what could be the first North Texas death linked to synthetic marijuana, Fort Worth police are charging a wrong-way driver who caused a fatal five-car crash on Friday with possessing the drug.
Amin Alrashdan, 27, of Euless, crossed into oncoming traffic in the westbound lanes of Trinity Boulevard and was speeding when he slammed head-on into four other vehicles, police said.
Malinda Miller, 51, of Arlington, was killed and several others were seriously hurt in the crash.
On Wednesday, the Fort Worth Police Department's Cpl. Tracey Knight said Alrashdan would be charged with possession of a controlled substance because officers had found what appeared to be synthetic marijuana on him after the fatal crash.
The results of a blood test are not yet available, she said.
Silvia Diaz, 28, of Arlington, is undergoing therapy after her release from the hospital, but cannot move her head and can barely walk after the crash.
"It was a crazy moment,” Diaz said. “Everything happened in less than a second."
Diaz said she was heading home Friday along Trinity Boulevard when she saw the van headed straight for her.
"I saw it coming toward me and I closed my eyes," Diaz said. "And all I could think was, 'That's it for me,' you know? 'That's it.'"
Diaz said she had wondered since the crash why the van driver would be speeding in the wrong lane headed straight for oncoming cars.
"I'm just so mad, confused, everything just makes no sense to me,” Diaz said.
Informed about the drug charge, she said she still did not fully understand but was just grateful to have survived.
An apparent bad batch of synthetic marijuana, the most common name of which is K2, led to hundreds of overdoses in Dallas and in Austin the past two weeks.
The victims became violent and needed to be sedated and tied down, doctors said.
"Drugs? It's just crazy,” Diaz said. "I'm alive, so that's the good thing."
A woman who answered the door Wednesday at Alrashdan’s house claimed not to know anything about the crash and said he was still in the hospital.
Alrashdan has no known previous arrest record.
