CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Port Aransas Police Department officials said they believe the woman who died after being trapped in her truck that drove off the Port Aransas south jetty April 10 ended up in the water after accelerating and losing control of the vehicle.
"Preliminary investigation led investigators to believe the female intentionally drove up onto the Jetty walking path and when she met an obstacle and accelerated to get over the obstacle she accidentally drove into the ship channel," said PAPD Criminal Investigations Division Supervisor Joseph Rivas. "It is believed alcohol was a factor in the incident."
Rivas said 58-year-old Lynna Koehn was driving the truck that went into the Corpus Christi Ship Channel. A male passenger was in the car with her. He survived the accident with minor injuries, Rivas said.
The man told police the truck's tires were straddling the sand on the beach and the jetty's walking path heading westbound, parallel to the ship channel.
Rivas said it's easy for those in all-wheel drive vehicles to do with a "moderate suspension lift."
He said she accessed the area making "an approach of (an) approximately 45 degree angle to the walking path at an area that had roughly 8-10 (inch) lift," Rivas said.
The jetty was created to be a pedestrian walkway, one that people mostly use to fish. For this reason, Nueces County Coastal Parks Director Scott Cross said blocking access is out of the question.
"I can't put anything to prohibit pedestrian access," he said.
The area also is jurisdictionally tricky, he said, because while the jetty is within the confines of the Nueces County-owned I.B. Magee Park, the jetty itself is owned by the federal government. He said for that reason, trying to build on that property has been difficult in the past, requiring a lot of vetting.
"It's a long-term lease," he said. "(I) can't erect structure without coordinating with Army Corps of Engineers. If I was to put up any kind of structure or barrier, I'd have to coordinate that with the Army Corps of Engineers."
He said that while there are things that could be done to help avoid accidents such as this one in the future, such as putting up bollards or concrete blocks, they're options he never thought he'd be faced with because the jetty isn't meant for driving.
"A lack of common sense and alcohol created this situation," he said. "I haven't even begun to look at that process. I don't know where that would go; (or) who would authorize it."
