A Travis County judge reduced Solomun Weldekeal-Araya’s bond from $1.2 million to $7,000.
Jeff Bell, John Diaz, Tony Plohetski
8:30 PM CDT April 29, 2025
5:55 AM CDT April 30, 2025
AUSTIN, Texas — A Travis County judge has reduced the bond of an 18-wheeler driver accused of causing a deadly pileup crash on Interstate 35 that killed five people in North Austin last month.
On Tuesday afternoon, a judge reduced Solomun Weldekeal-Araya’s bond from $1.2 million to $7,000.
According to the Travis County District Attorney’s Office, the new bond conditions require Weldekeal-Araya not drive commercial vehicles, surrender any documentation that would allow him to leave the country, wear a GPS electronic monitoring unit for 90 days, agree to submit to random urine analysis for drug screening and be supervised by Pretrial Services.
“I am grateful to the Austin Police Department for their work on these cases,” said Travis County District Attorney José Garza. “We are continuing to work with APD to evaluate them.”
Weldekeal-Araya is accused of intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault.
Blood test results show he did not have any drugs or alcohol in his system the night of the crash.
Police said the original charges were based on Standardized Field Sobriety Tests and drug recognition examinations conducted by its officers.
Court documents stated that Weldekeal-Araya failed a field sobriety test and that he showed signs of intoxication consistent with the use of central nervous system depressants. According to the documents, Weldekeal-Araya had bloodshot and watery eyes, mumbled speech and swayed as he walked.
Weldekeal-Araya allegedly told police the crash happened because he was cut off, stating that he had not consumed alcohol before the incident. A preliminary breathalyzer exam showed Weldekeal-Araya had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.00, but he still showed “all six” signs of intoxication and failed a field sobriety exam, according to police.
In total, 17 people and 17 vehicles were involved in the crash. Three adults, one child and a baby all died at the scene. The devastating crash on I-35 has now led to multiple lawsuits from victims seeking more than $150 million combined.