Loddie Naymola: Crash, Conviction, Sentence, and Settlements

Walter E. “Loddie” Naymola Jr. is a Beaumont, Texas, businessman and Stephen F. Austin State University donor who was convicted in January 2026 of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for a June 2022 drunk-driving crash on Dowlen Road that injured more than ten people. A Jefferson County jury sentenced him to ten years of deferred probation and a $10,000 fine. A February 2026 plea agreement resolved the remaining charges on the same terms.

The 2022 Dowlen Road Crash

Shortly before 1 p.m. on June 22, 2022, Naymola was driving a blue Dodge Ram pickup on Dowlen Road near Gladys in Beaumont.¹ His truck struck the vehicle in front of him, went airborne, and triggered a six-vehicle chain-reaction pileup. “Black box” data later showed the truck was moving at roughly 112 miles per hour at impact.² A blood warrant showed Naymola’s blood-alcohol content was about three times the legal limit.³

More than ten people were injured, Naymola among them.⁴ Tiffany Barnaby, a dance instructor who testified at trial, said she lost consciousness after striking her head and afterward had to teach her classes seated. She also stopped the physical therapy she had been getting for an earlier knee injury because she could no longer afford it.⁵

Why Aggravated Assault Instead of DWI

The Beaumont Police Department’s investigation initially recommended a charge of driving while intoxicated. The Jefferson County District Attorney’s office instead pursued three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony carrying two to twenty years in prison.⁶ Under Texas law, any object capable of causing death or serious bodily injury in how it is used can qualify as a deadly weapon, and courts have long treated a motor vehicle that way when the circumstances warrant.⁷

Defense attorney Ryan Gertz built his pretrial strategy around that gap. He called the charges “excessive” and argued that what happened was a DWI with an accident, not aggravated assault. Gertz alleged that prosecutor Mike Laird had told him Naymola needed to be charged with something beyond DWI so the office would not appear to be “treating the wealthy guy differently than everyone else.”² The defense filed a formal selective-prosecution claim in December 2025, arguing Naymola was being discriminated against because of his wealth.

Assistant District Attorney Angela Kneeland called the claim “frivolous” and “entirely without merit.” Even if the alleged comments had been made, she said, they came during plea negotiations months or years after the indictment and did not reflect the office’s intent when charges were originally brought. Kneeland said Naymola had produced “no evidence — let alone exceptionally clear evidence” of a discriminatory prosecutorial policy. The Ninth Court of Appeals dismissed the selective-prosecution appeal before trial.²

Trial and Verdict

Jury selection took place on January 12, 2026, before visiting Judge Susan Brown in Jefferson County. Prosecutors argued that Naymola’s decision to drive drunk at that speed was a “knowing decision” rather than mere recklessness, pointing to opportunities he had to stop before the collision.⁸ Gertz urged jurors, if inclined to convict, to consider the lesser included offenses of deadly conduct or DWI, arguing the victims’ injuries did not meet Texas’s threshold for “serious bodily injury” because no one was hospitalized overnight.¹

On January 14, 2026, after less than two hours of deliberation, the jury found Naymola guilty of aggravated assault as indicted, rejecting the lesser options.⁵

The Sentence

Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon is classified as a “3G” offense in Texas, meaning the judge could not grant probation on her own. Probation was available only if the jury recommended a sentence of ten years or less and specifically recommended community supervision.⁷ During the punishment phase that began January 15, the defense presented Naymola as a self-made man who “did not grow up with a silver spoon” and highlighted a record of charitable giving. The jury sentenced him to ten years of deferred probation and a $10,000 fine.⁵

The Remaining Charges and Civil Settlements

Two additional counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon remained after the jury trial. On February 16, 2026, Naymola entered a plea deal resolving all remaining criminal matters. He received ten years of deferred probation on the two remaining aggravated assault cases, running concurrently with the trial sentence. One remaining case was dismissed by the state. In exchange, the defense agreed to drop its pending appeals and waive the right to appeal the trial verdict.⁹

On the civil side, Barnaby sued on June 28, 2022, seeking more than $1 million in damages, and two families intervened on behalf of minor children. The cases were consolidated in the 60th District Court and named Naymola along with his business entities, including National Tank & Equipment LLC, 4-Horn Investments LP, and 4-Horn Industrial LLC; Naymola was driving a company vehicle owned by National Tank & Equipment at the time of the crash. All claims were settled out of court. Barnaby’s settlement, covering past and future medical bills, was reached in March 2023, and the broader settlement was finalized around June 2023, two days before Naymola reached a separate settlement with his insurance carrier, Berkley National Insurance Company.¹⁰

Who Loddie Naymola Is

Naymola, 68 at the time of his conviction, is a 1978 graduate of Stephen F. Austin State University, where he played basketball and earned a degree in finance.¹¹ He built his business around 4-Horn Investments LP and its subsidiaries. National Tank & Equipment, a specialty rental provider of fluid transfer and storage solutions founded by 4-Horn in 2016, grew to 23 branches nationwide before being sold to Power Technique North America LLC, part of the Atlas Copco Group, in a deal announced in August 2025.¹² He is also president of 4-Horn Farm and Ranch LLC, described in legal filings as worth millions, and runs the Loddie Naymola Charitable Foundation.²

Naymola has donated millions of dollars to SFA, and the university’s Board of Regents named the 42,000-square-foot Loddie Naymola Basketball Performance Center in his honor. The facility, housing offices, a weight room, locker rooms, and practice courts for the basketball programs, opened in October 2021.¹¹ As of early 2026, the SFA athletics website continued to list the facility under his name, with no public indication of any renaming after the conviction.¹³

1
KFDM. Naymola Trial Centers on 2022 Crash at Dowlen Near Gladys
2
The Beaumont Examiner. DWI Driver Claims Immense Wealth Spurred Overzealous Prosecution; Jury Disagrees
3
The Beaumont Examiner. Naymola Gets Probation, Fine in Beaumont Multi-Vehicle Crash
4
Daily Sentinel. SFA Basketball Facility Namesake Under Investigation for Wreck
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KFDM. Jury Deciding Punishment After Convicting Naymola of Aggravated Assault in Dowlen Crash
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KFDM. Walter Naymola Jr. Faces Trial for Aggravated Assault Charges
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Versus Texas. Aggravated Assault With a Deadly Weapon
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Fox 4 Beaumont. Jury Deciding Punishment After Convicting Naymola of Aggravated Assault in Dowlen Crash
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KFDM. Final Criminal Cases Resolved in Naymola Collision on Dowlen Near Gladys
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The Beaumont Examiner. 2022 Crash Claims Continue
11
KTRE. Naming Rights Announced for SFA Coliseum Expansion Project
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Norton Rose Fulbright. Norton Rose Fulbright Represents 4-Horn Investments in Sale of National Tank & Equipment
13
SFA Jacks. Loddie Naymola Basketball Performance Center