Tx. Driver Allegedly Hit Pedestrian While Drunk, Drove Half a Mile with Corpse in Passenger Seat
Police arrested a Texas man who allegedly struck and killed a pedestrian while intoxicated and continued to drive with the body in his car, multiple outlets report.
On Saturday, the Austin Police Department arrested 24-year-old Paul Garcia, who was booked at the Travis County Correctional Complex on charges of multiple traffic offenses, an accident involving injury and intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle, according to inmate records.
At about 10:30 p.m. that night, witnesses tell police they saw a Ford Focus hit someone who was crossing the street while pushing a shopping cart, according to KXAN. The fatal collision occurred at the intersection of Slaughter Lane and Menchaca Road.
According to an arrest affidavit reported by KVUE, the victim suffered serious head injuries as they reportedly crashed through the windshield.
Body parts and car parts were left in the street as Garcia allegedly continued to drive about a half of a mile with the “mangled corpse” in the passenger seat, the outlet reported.
Garcia then parked at the South Austin Beer Garden, where he tried to enter while barefoot before employees noticed something was awry, according to KXAN.
“We didn’t know what kind of trouble he was in, we just knew it was bad,” co-owner David Pearce told the outlet. “He was in tears. He was distraught; in a panicked state. You could see he had tears in his eyes and it looked like he was running from something.”
Police soon arrived and arrested Garcia after conducting a field sobriety test, the outlet reported.
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According to the arrest affidavit per KXAN, investigators said the car was traveling at high speeds, given the way the victim crashed through the windshield and the way the shopping cart was thrown into a grouping of mailboxes and bent a two-inch steel post.
Garcia is currently being held with a combined bond of $110,000, according to inmate records. A representative for Garcia was not immediately apparent.
