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JEFFERSON COUNTY, Texas – Jefferson County Sheriff’s Deputy James Lee was killed Saturday evening while mowing his yard. The deputy was fatally struck by a DUI suspect whose vehicle left the roadway, authorities said.
The crash was reported just before 8:15 p.m. in the 19000 block of Burrell-Wingate Road — about four miles east of Texas 124, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
A Toyota SUV was westbound when it “was traveling at an unsafe speed while attempting to negotiate a curve, at which point it traveled off the road into the ditch and struck a person operating a lawn mower,” the Texas Department of Public Safety said in a press statement.
Lee, 71, of Hamshire, was pronounced dead on the scene, the Beaumont Enterprise reported.
Michael Miller, 38, of Beaumont, was identified as the driver. He was taken to a local hospital for treatment and a mandatory blood specimen, police said.
Miller was subsequently taken into custody and booked for intoxicated manslaughter and unlawful possession of a weapon.
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