Drunk Texas driver hits pedestrian, drags body for half-mile and then 'calmly' walks into bar for a drink
AUSTIN, TEXAS: A Texas man has been accused of hitting a pedestrian with his vehicle while drunk and then dragging the body for at least half a mile before stopping and heading into a beer garden for another drink.
Paul Joseph Garcia, 24, was arrested after Austin Police officers responded to the scene of the accident at the 10000 Block of Menchaca Road, just south of West Slaughter Lane, South Austin, at around 10:36 pm on Saturday, February 15, according to the Austin American-Statesman.
When officers reached, the scene, witnesses told them they saw a 2014 white Ford Focus without headlights on and being driven recklessly at a high speed hit a person walking near Slaughter Lane and then drive south on Menchaca Road. The evidence on the road, including the lack of braking marks, was also consistent with the victim being hit on the right lane.
An arrest affidavit filed in connection to the incident states that the pedestrian, who has not yet been identified, was pushing a shopping cart along the road when Garcia slammed into them. "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," officers wrote.
Debris, including car parts and body parts, also lined the road for a half-mile from where the pedestrian was hit, and when officers followed it, they found them in the passenger seat of the vehicle after having gone through its windshield. The victim had "extreme, traumatic injuries" injuries to their head, according to the affidavit, and some of their body parts had been detatched.
After killing the victim, Garcia reportedly "calmly" walked into a South Austin Beer Garden at 10700 Menchaca Road barefoot and “in a manner that caught the attention of the other patrons."
He was not served alcohol, and after he was eventually detained, he failed the sobriety tests. Officers also found blood evidence and other debris on him that matched "the blood and body tissue found coated in the interior of the vehicle."
"We didn’t know what kind of trouble he was in, we just knew it was bad," said David Pearce, the co-owner of the Beer Garden. "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."
Garcia has since been charged with intoxication manslaughter and accident involving injury, with the affidavit stating he drove without regard for the safety of others and continued to drive "for one-half miles with a mangled corpse in the vehicle."
He is currently being held at the Travis County Correctional Complex on a bail of $110,000.