A 27-year-old man was killed and a 3-year-old child was hurt Saturday evening when a pickup truck and a sedan collided head-on in the 2500 block of FM 725 in South New Braunfels, according to the New Braunfels Police Department. The pickup driver, 25-year-old Rafael Alejandro Arreguin-Ramirez, was arrested on suspicion of intoxication manslaughter and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after showing signs of intoxication at the scene.
The crash happened at approximately 7 p.m. Saturday, according to WOAI News 4 San Antonio. The driver of the sedan was found dead at the scene, while the 3-year-old child riding as a passenger suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to University Hospital in San Antonio. Arreguin-Ramirez was later transported to CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital-New Braunfels, where authorities executed a blood search warrant, as reported by FOX 7 Austin, which also reported that Arreguin-Ramirez is a Mexican national. He was then booked into the Guadalupe County Jail.
Passenger Caught Hiding in a Neighbor's Garage
A second man in the pickup, 23-year-old Alejandro Aguillen Acosta, fled on foot into a nearby neighborhood after the crash. Officers found him hiding inside a residential garage, and he was charged with evading arrest or detention and criminal trespass of a habitation, per the same account. FM 725 remained closed for approximately five hours as the NBPD Traffic Unit investigated the crash.
The felony charges Arreguin-Ramirez faces carry serious weight under Texas law. Intoxication manslaughter, defined under Texas Penal Code Section 49.08, is a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in state prison and a fine of up to $10,000, according to FindLaw, and prosecutors do not need to prove intent to harm — only that intoxication caused the fatality. The aggravated assault charge, tied to the injuries suffered by the 3-year-old, falls under Texas Penal Code Section 22.02 and is also a second-degree felony carrying two to 20 years, since Texas courts have established that a motor vehicle can qualify as a deadly weapon when used in a way capable of causing death or serious injury.
Misdemeanor Charges for the Passenger
Acosta's charges are less severe but still carry real consequences. Evading arrest on foot and criminal trespass of a habitation, under Texas Penal Code Sections 38.04 and 30.05, are both Class A misdemeanors, each punishable by up to one year in county jail and a fine of up to $4,000, according to FindLaw.
A Corridor With a History of Deadly Crashes
This is not the first fatal wreck on this stretch of roadway. The New Braunfels Police Department noted that the surrounding corridor of FM 725 saw a fatal crash in March 2022 at West Zipp Road, when an 84-year-old driver was killed after a dump truck ran a red light — a collision that closed the road for three and a half hours for reconstruction and cleanup.
The City of New Braunfels and the Texas Department of Transportation have since secured funding through the Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization for a $20.6 million project to widen FM 725 from two to four lanes with a center median, sidewalks and bike lanes between Zipp Road and County Line Road, part of a broader $146 million regional transportation package for New Braunfels corridors.
The crash also arrived just three days after New Braunfels police investigated another fatal wreck. On September 9, the NBPD Traffic Unit responded to a deadly I-35 motorcycle crash in the 2400 block of Interstate 35 South that closed main lanes for five and a half hours after a 22-year-old motorcyclist was ejected into traffic and killed; no criminal charges were filed in that case.
Impaired Driving Remains a Statewide Concern
Texas Department of Transportation records show that 1,303 people were killed on Texas roadways in 2025 due to impaired driving — roughly one alcohol-related fatality every seven hours and 17 minutes statewide, figures released as part of TxDOT's Drive Sober. No Regrets. enforcement campaign. Locally, Texas Department of Transportation crash data compiled by Sandoval & James shows New Braunfels recorded 1,783 total motor vehicle collisions in 2024, including eight fatal crashes, eight fatalities and 740 injuries, with 555 of those crashes resulting in non-fatal injuries.
Under a Texas statute known as Bentley's Law, which took effect in September 2023, people convicted of intoxication manslaughter can be ordered by a court to pay monthly child support to surviving minor children if the crash killed a parent or legal guardian, with payments continuing until the child turns 18 or graduates high school. The dossier does not indicate whether the deceased 27-year-old man was a parent or guardian to the injured 3-year-old, and his identity had not been officially released as of the latest reporting.
