Tow truck driver arrested in fatal Miami crash

MIAMI – Neatly one month after the collision, a tow truck driver turned himself in on a vehicular homicide charge after police accused him of driving recklessly before hitting a car in a fiery, fatal crash in Miami.

According to a Miami police arrest report, just after midnight on Dec. 11, Jose Garcia, 49, was driving his tow truck in a residential area along Southwest 22nd Avenue with flashing amber lights and a police-like siren, switching lanes and overtaking slower moving vehicles prior to the crash.

Vehicle data showed Garcia was traveling more than 80 mph in a 35 mph zone when he slammed into a Honda CR-V making a left turn onto Southwest 17th Street, killing the man behind the wheel of the SUV after firefighters were unable to pull him from the burning vehicle, according to police.

Police wrote that Garcia, who turned himself in on Tuesday, “demonstrated a willful and wanton disregard for the safety of others and property in the area” and said “there was no evidence of braking on the roadway prior to impact.”

The report doesn’t identify the crash victim.