Driver Arrested For Texas Motorcycle Crash Has Been In Trouble Before
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GRANBURY (CBSDFW.COM) - A driver in Granbury over the weekend was captured on video swerving into a motorcycle on the road. The bike crashed and left two people injured. William 'Bill' Crum claims an insect bite caused him to momentarily lose control of his vehicle, but prosecutors are not buying that story.
CBS 11 uncovered the criminal past of a man who continues to insist that a spider bite forced him to swerve into a motorcyclist and his passenger.
Bill Crum spoke to reporters from the Hood County Jail Tuesday.
"Right there inside my leg," Crum said showing cameras where he said the spider bit him. "I'm squeezing puss out of it. Maybe it will rot half my leg off and they'll believe I was actually bit."
The video that shows Crum crossing the double lines and crashing into a motorcyclist and passenger who were passing him illegally has gone viral on a global scale.
Crum can be heard saying "I don't care" when confronted at the crash scene.
He explained that he didn't feel remorse because the motorcyclist was breaking the traffic laws.
"I thought that he was one of these turds that was doing something wrong," Crum said.
CBS 11 discovered that Crum's wrap sheet dated back to the 90's and involved charges of assault, reckless driving and terrorist threats.
Crum had little to say about the prior convictions.
His current charges include two counts of Aggravated Assault. He's being held on $150,000 bond.
The motorcycle on Saturday was trying to illegally pass Crum's car on the road. After it crossed over a double line, Crum's car suddenly veered into the bike and then back into its own lane. The entire thing was caught on video by another biker.
Debra Simpson was the passenger on the crashed motorcycle. She remains hospitalized after suffering a broken wrist and deep lacerations from the crash and has needed more than one surgery. Eric Sanders was the driver of the motorcycle, and is Simpson's boyfriend. He too was hurt when the bike wrecked out.
Simpson was moved out of ICU on Monday, but there is no word yet on when she will be able to leave the hospital.
Crum, 68, now faces two counts of aggravated assault. While he remains in jail for these alleged crimes this isn't the first time Crum has been arrested. Records show he has also faced charges for everything from family violence assault, to unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, reckless driving, abusive calls to 911 and making a terroristic threat.
Deputies booked Crum into the Hood County Jail just after midnight on Tuesday, saying that he was uncooperative then and remained so later on Tuesday. His bond was set at $75,000 for each charge.
Before being arrested, Crum explained that the swerving was his reaction to a spider bite. However, he was captured on video saying "I don't care" about the motorcycle crash and the two victims. "On that particular road," Crum said, "I've seen them do wheelies at 60 mph, and I thought he was one of them. I didn't know there was a passenger."
If he is convicted, Crum could face 20 years in prison for each count. "He's getting locked up," said Sanders. "The state is filing charges on him, straight up."
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