Teen eluding police dies after attempting to cross I-35
New Braunfels police say a 15-year-old who was eluding officers attempted to cross I-35 early this morning and was struck and killed.
Police say at around 12:30 a.m., an officer on patrol in the 1200 block of I-35 noticed someone acting suspiciously outside of a gas station at the intersection of Walnut and I-35.
As the officer approached, the person fled on foot across Walnut. More officers arrived and followed the person on foot around several businesses located along Walnut and along the southbound I-35 frontage road.
Police say the person ignored repeated orders from officers to stop and attempted to jump fences and elude officers. Officers lost sight of the person before eventually seeing the person running across the southbound frontage road, across the grass median and onto the main lanes of southbound of I-35.
That's when the person was struck by a passing pickup truck. Police say the person died at the scene.
The person has been identified as 15-year-old Daniel Garcia.
Police say the 19-year-old male driver of the truck and his 22-year-old passenger were taken to the hospital as a precaution. They say that the driver is not facing any criminal charges at this time.
Southbound main lanes of I-35 in the area were closed for about two and a half hours.