Families of Victims in Fatal Alcohol Induced Crash Release Statement

TYLER — The families of the victims are breaking their silence for the first time since proceedings ended in the case of Carl Crabtree. Crabtree, 31, of Bullard, received a 40-year prison sentence this week after pleading guilty in a double-fatality crash in southern Smith County. The DPS says Crabtree was driving down Old Jacksonville Highway March 4 when his vehicle crossed the center line and collided head-on with an SUV. Dana Regester, 41, of Flint, and Pasha Zapolsky, 18, of Bullard, died in the wreck. Crabtree pleaded guilty to intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault

The following statement was released by the families under the agreement KETK would not edit the release in any way:

“Nothing can ever replace the lives of the loved ones we have lost. Each of our families are forever changed. It was very important to all families involved that Carl Crabtree understand the full impact of the choices he made the day of March 4, 2015. This is extremely real for all of us and we wanted to try to convey the full measure of that reality to him. It was also important to all of our families that Mr. Crabtree know that while we are grieving, and hope that he would never have the opportunity to drive drunk again, we wanted him to understand the grace that the Lord offers him regardless of his reckless decisions.

We would like to thank Smith County District Attorney’s office for the great compassion that was extended to our families. Through their diligence, the best possible outcome was achieved. We feel that this sets a good precedent for the rest of the state to follow and we support steeper penalties for DWI offenders in the State of Texas.

Our families would also like to thank the news stations that respected our privacy and the judge’s instructions to keep our victim impact statements off of the record. At a time when our families were looking for closure, it was unnerving to find recordings of our emotional statements broadcasted on the news and internet by KLTV. It would have been very easy for them to capture the grace that was shared with Crabtree in each of our statements instead of sensationalizing the depth of our grief.”

-The Regester, Zapolskyy, Tatum, Chadwell and Huggins families