HOLLISTER, CALIFORNIA – March 19, 2024 – On March 18, police were dispatched to a report of a woman driving with a male hanging on to the hood of her vehicle. The male was thrown from the vehicle and sustained life-threatening injuries. A suspect was later located and arrested.
On March 18th at about 6:40 pm, Hollister Police Officers responded to a report of a female driving in the areas of Fourth Street and then Central Avenue with a male hanging on to the hood of her vehicle. Officers arrived in the area and located the victim, who had fallen from the car and was lying in the roadway with witnesses tending to him. The Hollister Fire Department and American Medical Response arrived on scene and rendered aid to the victim. The victim was flown by air ambulance to Natividad Hospital with life threatening injuries.
Witnesses provided officers with the suspect vehicle description and a license plate number. The license plate number indicated the car was registered to an address in Vallejo, CA. Officers immediately entered this information into the FLOCK Camera System, which is a license plate reading camera system recently installed in Hollister. The FLOCK system captured a recording of the suspect vehicle entering Hollister prior to the crime. While searching the local area for the vehicle, officers received an alert on the Gilroy FLOCK system indicating the suspect vehicle had just been in their cameras. A “Be on the Lookout” (BOL) alert was broadcast to our allied agencies between Hollister and Vallejo, CA.
An officer from the California Highway Patrol (Gilroy/Hollister area office) spotted the suspect vehicle traveling northbound on Highway 101 and stopped it in Morgan Hill. A Hollister officer responded to the scene of the stop and took custody of the driver and the vehicle. The suspect was identified as April Garcia (24) from Vallejo, CA. She was transported back to Hollister and booked at the San Benito County Jail on multiple charges including attempted murder and robbery.
During the investigation, officers learned there appeared to be some transaction between the suspect and victim. When the suspect drove away with the victim’s money, he jumped on the vehicle hood trying to stop her. The suspect allegedly drove for about ¾ of a mile at high speeds before the victim fell from the hood to the pavement.
We would like to thank those witnesses who called and provided us with the information used to locate the suspect. We would also like to thank the Gilroy Police Department for their assistance with the FLOCK system and California Highway Patrol for assisting us with the stop and detention of the suspect.
This is an ongoing investigation. Anyone with information regarding this investigations is requested to contact The Hollister Police Department at 831-636-4331. Persons wishing to remain anonymous may call WeTip at (800) 78-CRIME. Information provided to WeTip may qualify for a reward.
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Prepared by: Christopher Wells, Senior Officer
Approved by: Carlos Reynoso, Chief of Police
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