Cops say Texas drunk driver hit a pedestrian, drove a half-mile with the 'mangled corpse' in his passenger seat, and then walked into a bar

A drunk driver was arrested in south Austin, Texas, over the weekend on allegations that he hit a pedestrian and drove at least a half-mile with the "mangled corpse" in his passenger seat before stopping at a beer garden.

Witnesses told officers they saw a 2014 white Ford Focus strike a pedestrian walking with a shopping cart near Slaughter Lane at around 10:30 p.m. Saturday before driving southbound on Menchaca Road, according to an arrest report obtained by the Statesman. The vehicle was allegedly being driven recklessly and at a high speed without any headlights on.

Upon impact, the body of the pedestrian, who police on Wednesday identified as 55-year-old Lee Martin Cagle, reportedly went up into the air and through the windshield. Officers responding to the incident found the Cagle's body in the passenger seat of the vehicle about half a mile down the road — the head and some other body parts had been detached.

According to the arrest report, the driver, Paul Joseph Garcia, 24, then calmly exited the parked vehicle and walked up to a beer garden barefoot and "in a manner that caught the attention of the other patrons."

Officers found Garcia with blood and other debris on him that matched "the blood and body tissue found coated in the interior of the vehicle," and after performing sobriety tests, arrested him for driving while intoxicated. He had not been served any alcohol at the beer garden.

In the arrest report, investigators noted that debris and body parts were found lining the road for the half-mile from the beer garden back to where the accident had occurred. Near the site of the accident, the pedestrian's shopping cart was found pushed "into a cluster of mailboxes with enough force to bend a two-inch diameter, galvanized steel post that supported mailboxes."

Garcia was officially charged for intoxication manslaughter and accident involving injury and is being held at the Travis County Correctional Complex on $110,000 bond.

Here's more about the incident from KXAN-TV:

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