Texas Teacher Who Allegedly Drove 117 Mph Charged in Crash That Killed Teen

Rickala Chaffold (Dallas Police Department)

A Texas high school teacher accused of driving 117 miles per hour was indicted by a grand jury in a crash that left a teenager dead.

Rickala Chaffold was behind the wheel of a car vehicle that hit a group of motorcyclists along Interstate Highway 635 in February 2021, said prosecutors. One of the riders, 16-year-old Atreyu Gowen of Mesquite, died after the crash while 28-year-old Paul Arnett was seriously injured in the incident, officials told CBS Dallas and other local media.

Investigators said that Chaffold was driving 117 mph six seconds before the crash, officials said, citing surveillance footage, the CBS affiliate reported. The motorcyclists were driving at around 72 mph.

Chaffold was allegedly “operating a motor vehicle at an unsafe speed and a speed not prudent for the conditions,” said the grand jury last week, reported CBS Dallas.

Reports in February said that Chaffold, 24, was a teacher at Forney High School. According to the local news website InForney, she was arrested at the school in mid-March.

“Allegedly, a staff member was involved in an auto accident that occurred off-campus and after hours,” Forney school district spokeswoman Kristin Zastoupil told the site, without naming Chaffold. “Upon learning of the incident and charges, the person was immediately placed on administrative leave.”

It’s not clear if Chaffold has an attorney. Also unclear is whether she was terminated from her teaching job.