2022 crash claims continue into 2024

Now going on two years since a Texas-based billionaire was cited for drunkenly crashing into a half-dozen vehicles on a busy street in front of a west end Beaumont middle school, defendant Walter Eugene “Loddie” Naymola has yet to be seen inside of a Jefferson County courtroom. Throughout 2022 and 2023, Naymola was scheduled to appear in the Criminal District Court yet, time and time again, dockets ended without a sighting of the defendant. Scheduled again for “announcement” on Jan. 18, Naymola may – or may not – finally be called to answer in 2024 for the 2022 crash that one man claims cost the life of his unborn child.

Airborne ‘4HORN’

June 22, 2022, motorist Tiffany Barnaby, 21 years old at the time, approached the intersection of Gladys and Dowlen roads in Beaumont when her life was forever changed. In a court filing against Naymola, as well as the global National Tank & Equipment (NTE) and “4 Horn” companies he commands ownership of, Barnaby alleged that the billionaire was driving a work truck when he drunkenly plowed over her vehicle and five others.

“Suddenly and without warning,” Barnaby’s claim against Naymola and his companies reads, “defendant Naymola failed to control his speed and violently crashed into the back of plaintiff’s vehicle.”

According to Barnaby’s account, she suffered “severe personal injuries” as a result of Naymola’s actions, and she was seeking in excess of $1 million in retribution for medical expenses, future medical expenses, pain and suffering now and in the future, loss of earnings in the past and future earning capacity, physical impairment, physical disfigurement, mental anguish, the loss of her vehicle, and attorney fees.

Several others impacted by Naymola’s drunk driving that June lunchtime in 2022 filed claims against the billionaire, as well, Carlos Zunigo Castillo et al claiming “severe and disabling injuries” including neck, back and internal organ damage, and Matthew Esthay et al further asserting that Naymola “was unable to safely drive and operate a motor vehicle,” and administrators of National Tank & Equipment and 4 Horn “knew, or in the exercise of ordinary care should have known, of such recklessness, incompetence, unfitness and/or lack of qualification.”

A pair of law enforcement crash reports covering the crash detailed Naymola’s blue 2021 Dodge Ram 1500, with a license plate reading “4HORN,” as beginning on a path of peril prior to hitting Barnaby’s car and causing a pileup six-vehicles deep.

Beaumont Police Department Officer Stewart Hanley reported that, on June 22, 2022, a witness called the police station to report that a blue truck bearing Texas license plates “4HORN” was seen driving erratically just moments before Naymola crashed into Barnaby.

“It left the roadway and struck some trees, shrubs and a sprinkler system,” the witness said of Naymola’s driving on his way to the Gladys and Dowlen intersection at 12:55 p.m. “It then traversed through the parking lot and then onto the street in the 300 block of Dowlen Road.

“It crossed the two lanes of traffic before striking a metal light pole.”

A few minutes later, the driver of the truck bearing “4HORN” license plates was again the subject of a call to police – many calls to police, actually. The second BPD report regarding the six-car accident at the intersection of Dowlen and Gladys reports that witnesses saw Naymola’s vanity-plated “4HORN” truck barreling down Dowlen “at a high rate of speed” when he drove into the southbound lanes at the Westgate intersection “to get around traffic.”

Instead of clearing traffic, witnesses advised, Naymola slammed into Barnaby’s vehicle “and became airborne,” prompting a chain-reaction of collisions that left eight injured as reported at the scene of the crash, including several children. Officers at the scene listed “intoxication assault – citation number (2022-12357)” as a pending charge for Naymola but, due to his reported injuries, the billionaire was taken to the hospital rather than jail.

In August 2022, Naymola was indicted on three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. After reporting to the jail and posting immediate bond, Naymola has not been seen in court since.

Fatality alleged after the fact

February 2023, Dezman Parkerson was called before the Criminal District Court that is also the court of jurisdiction for Naymola’s pending felonies. Parkerson, who had been on probation for over a decade for robbing a convenience store with a BB gun in 2010, pleaded with the court for mercy in allowing more time to pay off debts attributed to the prior bad act. According to Parkerson, his life took a downturn the day Naymola rammed into a car carrying the mother of his unborn child.

“I’m in a bad state right now,” Parkerson said, going into detail as to how Naymola’s drunken driving on June 22, 2022 detrimentally derailed the expectant father’s life and took the life of his baby. Among the victims taken to the hospital that day was Parkerson’s pregnant girlfriend/common law wife, he said. The mother, badly injured due to the collision, was taken to the hospital where the couple’s child was born premature.

“She was born two months early,” Parkerson explained of his daughter’s death. “They gave her a second blood transfusion and she ended up dying. She only stayed alive for 12 days.”

Adding further to the tragedy, the billionaire’s actions impacted a family without the means to afford a proper burial for the deceased infant: “So,” Parkerson sighed, “we ended up having to get my daughter cremated because we didn’t have enough money to bury her.”

Parkerson added that he left work to be at the hospital, which further compounded the financial despair he was experiencing, and his only vehicle, the truck the mother of his child was driving when Naymola crashed into her, was a total loss.

“We haven’t heard anything else back about it,” Parkerson said, but added that, “I can’t even afford to pay my phone bill,” so there could have been calls missed, however.

Assistant District Attorney Pat Knauth said the prosecution office attempted to confirm Parkerson’s allegation – to no avail. According to Knauth, the alleged car crash victim was uncooperative when contacted concerning Parkerson’s statements and had not previously reported any injury.

Parties seek payouts

Several individuals involved in the accident filed suit against Naymola and his companies seeking to recover damages for their injuries, consolidated collectively as the Barnaby Lawsuit; Parkerson is not among them.

June 28, 2022, Tiffany Barnaby filed suit against National Tank & Equipment, LLC; 4-Horn Investments, LP; 4-Horn Industrial, LLC; and Walter Naymola.

July 8, 2022, Carlos Zuniga Castillo and Karla Ho, as next friend of KH, a minor, filed a petition in intervention in the Barnaby Lawsuit against National Tank & Equipment, LLC; 4-Horn Investments, LP; 4-Horn Industrial, LLC; and Walter Naymola.

July 11, 2022, Matthew and Alexa Esthay, both individually and as next friend of minors H.E. and N.E., filed a petition in intervention in the Barnaby Suit.

A year to the day after Barnaby filed suit against Naymola, the National Tank & Equipment owner settled with the company’s insurance provider for an undisclosed agreement that made the federal civil lawsuit seeking to force the insurance provider to cover damages “moot,” as recorded by District Judge Michael J. Truncale.

Records from Jefferson County show Barnaby’s suit for damages as still pending, given the cause number “B-0209996,” in Judge Justin Sanderson’s 60th District Court. However, information from the 60th District Court shows that all matters settled outside of a judge or jury two days prior to Naymola settling with his insurance carrier.

Joshua B. Baker and Carlos R. Soltero, attorneys for Berkley National Insurance Company (BNIC), Naymola’s insurance carrier, had argued up until the secret settlement that Naymola was advised of his insurance denying coverage as of Oct. 5, 2022, when a denial letter was sent that “speaks for itself,” even though the insurance carrier later agreed to defend Naymola in civil cases brought by victims of the Beaumont wreck “under a reservation of rights, while maintaining its position that no defense or indemnity is owed.”

Attorneys for the insurance company pleaded that coverage for Naymola’s claims were barred because the policy excludes coverage for the National Tank & Equipment (NTE) truck that Naymola was driving at least, in part, because: “At the time of the accident, (Naymola), an NTE employee and co-owner, was intoxicated and driving a vehicle owned by NTE.”

Referencing the Texas Peace Officer’s Crash Report that showed Naymola was cited for intoxication assault, the insurance attorneys proffered that, “NTE requires that drivers of its company vehicles comply with NTE’s vehicle and driving safety policies,” that provide, “among other things, that all company vehicles must be operated in accordance with applicable laws, and expressly prohibit drivers from operating company vehicles while impaired and/or under the influence of alcohol.”

Not settled

Knauth said that the status of civil lawsuits bears no relationship to the pending criminal matters. According to Knauth, no deal has been reached with Naymola to preclude prosecution of the indicted crimes.

“Right now, we’re ready for trial,” Knauth said as of Jan. 3. “There is no plea deal.”