A man was arrested and charged on Saturday after he struck and killed a motorcyclist while intoxicated in October.
According to the affidavit, on Oct. 5 at approximately 7:50 p.m. an officer on patrol responded to the scene of a major crash on highway 317 just north of Temple.
The officer observed a pickup truck on the southbound shoulder with front-end damage on the driver’s side. The officer later observed a motorcycle on the ground with extensive damage as well.
The victim was observed on the ground and EMS had arrived and began to work on the victim.
The suspect, 62-year-old Ian Ruston, looked to be intoxicated and exhibited a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage from his breath. He was also barefoot and swayed while standing.
Ruston made statements about where he was coming from and believed he was north and east of Denton, Texas.
He was given a number of field sobriety tests and was placed under arrest for driving while intoxicated. There was an empty Smirnoff Ice bottle located in the center console cup holder.
Ruston refused to provide a sample of his blood for analysis and a search warrant was obtained for his blood. On Oct. 11, the tests came back and his blood was found to contain 0.140 grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood.
Witnesses at the scene said Ruston was parked on the side of the road with the lights off and then saw the vehicle slowly pull out onto the roadway. They said Ruston then crossed the double yellow line and entered into the oncoming lane of travel and observed two motorcycles traveling in the right lanes.
Ruston and one of the motorcyclists collided and he impacted the motorcycle.
It was observed that Ruston had a dash cam on his vehicle and there was a search warrant for the video. After reviewing the video, the witnesses’ statements were true.
The victim later died as a result of the wreck. An autopsy report ruled that the cause of death was from multiple blunt force injuries.
Ian Ruston was arrested and charged with intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle on Saturday.
He was transported to the Bell County Jail. His bond is set at $1 million.
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