Police ID Elderly Motorist Killed After Being Sideswiped By Dump Truck In East Austin

EAST AUSTIN, TX — Police on Thursday identified the elderly motorist killed in East Austin after colliding with a dump truck last week.

George Melvin, 88, died four days after the two-vehicle collision along the 800 block of Bastrop Highway on July 27 just before 11 p.m. A police investigation found that Melvin was driving southbound on Bastrop Highway in his Buick LeSabre along with an International dump truck. The driver of the latter vehicle changed lanes to the right and struck Melvin's car, causing it to spin out of control and into the median between north- and southbound Bastrop Highway.

Austin-Travis County EMS medics transported Melvin to the Dell Seton Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries at 4:10 p.m. July 31.

Police continue to investigate the case. Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the APD Vehicular Homicide Unit Detectives at (512) 974-5594. You can also submit tips by downloading APD’s mobile app, Austin PD, for free on iPhone and Android.

Police said this incident is Austin’s 34th fatal traffic crash and the 36th fatality of 2017. At this time in 2016, there were 38 fatal traffic crashes and 38 traffic fatalities, police added.

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