06:16 PM CST on Monday, February 20, 2006

By Carolyn Campbell / 11 News and Staff Reports

Click to watch Carolyn Campbell's 11 News report | Click to watch raw footage from the scene

Houston police are searching for the driver who fled the scene of a fatal accident around 6:25 a.m. Monday at the intersection of Raymac at Sweetwater.

Many who live and work along this stretch of Sweetwater are not surprised by what happened here early Monday morning.

KHOU-TV

The box truck flipped, killing its driver.

“They speed down Sweetwater all the time.  It’s like those stop signs are not here,” said Yeulonda, area resident.

Accident investigators said an ice cream truck headed south on Sweetwater collided with a BMW, which was headed west on Raymac.

“It appears the BMW either ran the stop sign or failed to yield the right away,” said Officer John Nickell, HPD.

Both vehicles ended up in a nearby ditch.

The results were tragic.  The driver of the ice cream truck was trapped underneath his truck and died at the scene.

Police are looking for the driver of the BMW who they said fled on foot leaving behind two passengers, Jose and Perla Cavazos, who were injured and taken to the hospital.

“They go too fast around here,” said Raul Hernandez, area resident.

Residents complained motorists cut through their neighborhood all the time ignoring speed limits as they try to get to a nearby freeway.  

According to Houston police records, Monday morning’s accident was the first one on Sweetwater in the past six months.

But that doesn’t ease concern for area school children.

“It’s dangerous for them,” Hernandez said.  “They need to have a police officer right here watching the cars in the street.”

“You call and ask for help because you have children who are catching the bus here everyday,” Yeulonda said.  “And it don’t make any sense.”

“So this is an every day thing, it’s just as worse as [Interstate] 45 and West Road,” she said. “There’s always something going on. So it’s bound to - it happened.

This may be the first fatality here, but some fear if nothing is done it won’t be the last.