‘Drunk’ driver, 24, drove a half-mile with a ‘mangled corpse’ of a pedestrian he fatally struck before stopping at a beer garden for a drink
- Paul Joseph Garcia, 24, was arrested on Saturday for allegedly killing pedestrian
- Austin cops said Garcia drove for about half a mile with the mangled body in car
- The man, who hasn’t been identified, had extreme injuries to head and some body parts were detached, according to authorities
- Cops said after Garcia hit the person, he then stopped at a beer garden for drink
- He was charged with intoxication manslaughter and accident involving injury
A ‘drunk’ driver has been arrested after police said he fatally struck a pedestrian in Austin, Texas, kept driving for about half a mile with the mangled body in the car and then went to a beer garden.
Paul Joseph Garcia, 24, remained in the Travis County Correctional Complex Tuesday on charges of intoxication manslaughter and accident involving injury.
An arrest affidavit says witnesses told officers that the incident occurred around 10.36pm Saturday night.
Paul Garcia, 24, was arrested after police said he fatally struck a pedestrian in Texas and kept driving for about half a mile with the mangled body in the car. Authorities said Garcia failed sobriety tests and was arrested for intoxication manslaughter and accident involving injury
Witnesses said they saw Garcia’s Ford Focus, without headlights on and being driven recklessly at a high speed, hit a man who was pushing a shopping cart and then keep driving.
The affidavit says the body of the pedestrian, who has not been named, went through the windshield and was found in the passenger seat.
According to the affidavit said the pedestrian had extreme injuries to the head and some body parts were detached.
The affidavit said that after getting out of the car, Garcia walked barefoot into the South Austin Beer Garden at 10700 Menchaca Road.
Employees of the establishment didn’t serve Garcia any alcohol.
David Pearce, the co-owener of the beer garden told KXAN that his staff recognized something was wrong immediately.
The affidavit said that after getting out of the car, Garcia walked barefoot into the South Austin Beer Garden (pictured) at 10700 Menchaca Road. Employees of the establishment didn’t serve Garcia any alcohol
‘We didn’t know what kind of trouble he was in, we just knew it was bad,’ Pearce said.
According to Pearce, Garcia ‘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,’ Pearce added.
When officers found Garcia, they discovered blood evidence and other debris on him that matched the ‘blood and body tissue found coated in the interior of the vehicle’.
Authorities also conducted sobriety tests on Garcia and determined that he had alcohol or drugs in his system.
According to the Statesman, car and body parts lined the road for a half-mile from where the pedestrian was hit.
Police said in the affidavit that the evidence in the road, including the lack of braking marks, were consistent with a pedestrian being hit on Menchaca Road.
‘The impact with the vehicle pushed the cart into a cluster of mailboxes with enough force to bend a two-inch diameter, galvanized steel post that supported mailboxes,’ the affidavit reads.
Garcia was being held on $110,000 bond. Jail records don’t list an attorney for him.
So far this year, six pedestrians have been killed on roads in Austin.
A total of 35 pedestrians were hit and killed in 2019 and 31 were killed in 2018, data shows.