http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/02/23/02232007wacwreck.html
DPS: LaDainian Tomlinson's dad killed in accident
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Friday, February 23, 2007
By Emily Ingram
Tribune-Herald staff writer
Oliver Tomlinson, 71-year-old father of San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson, was killed in a one-vehicle wreck just east of Waco this afternoon.
Ronald McClain, 49, believed to be the brother of LaDainian Tomlinson, was rushed by ambulance to Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center where he was reportedly in serious to critical condition.
DPS spokesman Charlie Morgan said LaDainian Tomlinson, a former University High athlete, had been notified about the one-vehicle rollover and his father’s death.
Jennifer Rojas, a public relations assistant in the San Diego Chargers’ front office, told the Tribune-Herald that LaDainian Tomlinson was believed to have been on vacation, possibly out of the country, at the time of the accident.
Jewel Tomlinson, Oliver’s wife and LaDainian’s step-mother, told the Tribune-Herald that her husband and McClain had been returning to Waco after a trip home to the family home in Tomlinson Hill. Oliver had been staying in Waco recently, she said, while recovering from an illness.
The men were in the late-model blue pickup truck when it was involved in the accident at the intersection of South Farm-to-Market Road 434 and Farm to Market 2643, east of Waco near the tiny community of Asa, the DPS said. The truck flipped and was resting on its side on the county’s gravel storage area near the road.
The accident occurred at 1:30 p.m. when the vehicle, travelling north on FM 434, swerved right, going off the road. Witnesses reported that a tire on the truck blew out while the vehicle was traveling at about 55 mph, causing it to swerve out of control.
The driver, McClain, reportedly over-corrected, causing the vehicle to swerve off the road to the left. The vehicle then flipped, landing on the gravel mound. Both McClain and Tomlinson were ejected from the vehicle.
Justice of the Peace Kristi DeCluitt pronounced Tomlinson dead on the scene at 1:32 p.m. She ordered the body to be sent for an autopsy.
State troopers continue to work the accident scene.