Man drives to beer garden with “mangled corpse” of pedestrian he hit stuck to car

Though it goes without saying that driving under the influence is never a good idea, it’s hard to put the sickening reaction of one Texas hit-and-run driver down to intoxication alone.

Paul Joseph Garcia, 24, was allegedly driving in Austin at high speed without headlights at around 10.36 p.m. Saturday night when he fatally struck a man pushing a shopping cart, according to witnesses.

Such was the sickening force of the impact that the victim’s body went right through the windshield of Garcia’s Ford Focus, according to an arrest affidavit cited by the Austin American-Statesman.

The pedestrian, who was later found in the passenger seat of Garcia’s car, suffered severe head injuries, and parts of his body became detached during the horrific incident.

However, a seemingly unperturbed Garcia carried on driving for around half a mile with “a mangled corpse in the vehicle,” the affidavit states.

He then calmly got out of the car, according to witnesses, and walked barefoot into the South Austin Beer Garden, “in a manner that caught the attention of the other patrons.”

David Pearce, co-owner of the establishment, told local news station KXAN that staff immediately sensed something was wrong. Garcia wasn’t served any alcohol.

Car debris and body parts were later found lining the road from the scene of the collision to where the car finally stopped.

Police also discovered blood and fragments on Garcia that matched blood and body tissue coating the inside of his vehicle.

Following a failed sobriety test, he was charged with intoxication manslaughter and accident involving injury.

Garcia remained in the Travis County Correctional Complex Tuesday on $110,000 bail.