Posted 12/02/2004 05:31:00 PM by Douglas

This story just keeps getting weirder:

Whitehead, 43, died late Tuesday, hours after being dragged along a Houston freeway by his girlfriend's car in rush-hour traffic and then thrown into the air. Police said his arm may have been severed, or at least badly mangled, in the fracas.

Whitehead and his girlfriend, who lived in the East Texas town of Buna, had come to Houston for a doctor's appointment Tuesday. The woman was driving a Mercury Cougar, with Whitehead sitting beside her, when she inexplicably stopped the car in the right lane of traffic in the 9900 block of the East Freeway around 3:20 p.m.

Whitehead got out and walked around to the driver's side, where he opened the door and stood talking to her. Witnesses reported he did not appear angry or upset, said Houston Police Department Homicide Sgt. Mark Newcomb.

"The next thing the witnesses know, she floors it, and she's apparently moving at a pretty good clip — and he's hanging on the side of the vehicle," Newcomb said.

Rule numero uno: Don't get out of the freakin' car on a freeway. You just never can tell when the traffic is going to get rolling again and your girlfriend is going to black out.