San Bernardino man arrested in Redlands fatal hit-and-run crash

Last Updated on June 2, 2021 by CCAR Staff

A 21-year-old San Bernardino man was arrested Sunday, May 30, on suspicion of fleeing a crash that killed a 16-year-old passenger in his car, the Redlands Police Department said.

Austin Jesse Garcia was booked into West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, driving under the influence of drugs causing injury or death and hit and run causing injury or death, Superior Court records show.

Garcia was being held in lieu of $250,000 bail.

The crash was reported at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday at the intersection of Colton Avenue and Redlands Boulevard in Redlands. The driver of a 2001 Honda Civic, later identified as Garcia, was speeding and missed a curve on Colton Avenue, police said. His car hit a light pole, killing the passenger.

That passenger was Isaac Jacob Vargas of San Bernardino, the San Bernardino County Coroner’s Office said.

The driver could not immediately be located. Investigators later learned that a man suffering from injuries normally found on crash victims had been admitted at St. Bernardine’s Hospital in San Bernardino. Police then arrested Garcia.