Salem man charged as accessory in fatal car accident
A man authorities suspect is trying to take the blame for a fatal collision in Salem that claimed the life of a homeless man later texted the woman police believe was behind the wheel, “You (expletive) up,” prosecutors said yesterday.
But what Francisco Antonio Garcia apparently didn’t know when he pressed “send” on the text Sunday night was that his friend had dropped her cellphone near the car when she fled the scene — and it was the cops who received his message, complete with the caller ID “Francisco Garcia,” assistant Essex DA Katelyn Giliberti said.
Garcia, 25, of Salem pleaded not guilty yesterday in Salem District Court to being an accessory after the fact to leaving the scene of an accident causing death. Police reports describe a grisly scene on Bridge Street, where the 42-year-old victim’s body was found splayed over a curb and covered in blood, with a fatal injury to his head.
“A pulse was not determined at that time,” Giliberti told Judge Matthew Machera, who ordered Garcia held on $5,000 cash bail. Authorities would not say whether the woman has been arrested or who she is.
Giliberti said witnesses described seeing a darkskinned woman with long hair wearing a white tube top and shorts get out of the driver’s seat of the BMW 530i sedan and run down Bridge Street.
One witness told investigators they saw a man matching Garcia’s description get out of the passenger side of the car, walk over to the victim and then return to the car.
“It is clear from the facts, clear from the witness statements and also clear from the observations of that cellphone in front of the motor vehicle that Mr. Garcia was not in fact the operator that struck the pedestrian,” Giliberti said.
The Herald is not identifying the victim by name because officials have not formally released it.
The car traveled a short distance after the collision before pulling into a nearby boat shop parking lot, where Garcia — described as calm and sober — told officers he never saw the man, court documents show.
Garcia has prior arrests for motor vehicle offenses, most recently in 2010, when court records show he was charged with driving with a suspended license. That case was later dismissed.
“He’s a good boy. He’s never been in trouble before,” Garcia’s aunt Maria Nolasco said as she left the courtroom. “I know how he’s feeling right now and he’s very, very emotional.”
Nolasco said the BMW is the family car and her nephew works for a local nursing home.
“He’s very scared right now,” she said. “We all feel like we haven’t woken up.”