A Lakehills man arrested this past week on a warrant charging him with the deaths of three family members in a two-vehicle collision on Texas 46 is out on bond, jail records show.
According to an affidavit to support the arrest warrant, 58-year-old Carl S. Galm’s 2022 Ford Super Duty F-250 pickup was traveling 93 mph Oct. 29, 2024, and attempted to pass an 18-wheeler when his vehicle slammed into a 2015 Toyota Corolla carrying a Pipe Creek father, his wife and their daughter.
Galm, who was taken into custody Wednesday, March 19, and charged with three counts of manslaughter, a second-degree felony, was released the following day from the Kendall County Detention Center on bonds totaling $75,000.
Judge Kirsten Cohoon of the 451st state District Court issued the arrest warrant based on an affidavit affirmed by Department of Public Safety Cpl. Amanda Strickland, a certified crash investigator.
Court documents allege Galm’s actions caused the deaths of Roger L. Waid, 50; wife Patricia Ann Waid, 53; and daughter Blake Lynn Waid, 14.
According to court filings, Galm engaged in “reckless conduct” the night of Oct. 29 by “consciously disregarding a substantial and unjustifiable risk” and “speeding, passing multiple vehicles, including a semi-trailer, in a no-passing zone on a blind, uphill curve.”
According to the DPS report, Galm was driving his truck west in the 7600 block of 46 at 7:45 p.m. when he attempted to pass the tractor-trailer rig on a hill, on a blind curve in a no-passing zone, about five miles west of Boerne.
According to the affidavit, a witness told investigators Galm’s truck went around several vehicles along the winding, two-lane road. The witness told police she noticed Galm moving past at least four vehicles on a blind curve across a stretch of highway striped as a no-passing zone.
After Galm passed her car, he pulled behind an 18-wheeler before attempting to overtake the large truck, the witness told investigators.
Galm’s westbound truck moved into the eastbound lane and collided head-on with the Waids’ sedan, according to the investigation.
Strickland reported the electronic data recorder data on Galm’s truck clocked his speed at 93 mph five seconds before impact. The truck began to brake three seconds before impact, slowing the vehicle to 54 mph upon impact, according to reports.
Travel along 46 at the point of the collision showed westbound traffic on an upward grade approaching a right-hand curve, troopers said. The speed limit along this stretch of roadway is posted at 60 mph.
The force of the impact propelled the Waid vehicle, traveling the speed limit in the eastbound lane, backward, through a roadside ditch and into a fence, according to traffic investigators.
Galm’s truck flipped, rolling once, before landing upright and facing east, in the direction he had come, investigators said.
Authorities arriving at the scene initially recorded the Toyota with just two front-seat passengers. It was 10 minutes before they were able to discover the 14-year-old girl in the Corolla’s collapsed back seat area, according to reports.
Roger Waid died on impact, Strickland noted. His wife and daughter were both extricated from the vehicle by fire personnel but pronounced dead at the scene.
Galm was taken by ambulance to a hospital for his injuries, according to law-enforcement officials.
A GoFundMe page set up for surviving family Waid members, son Barrett and daughter Brooke, raised $111,837.
No trial has been announced.
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