The man suspected of striking and killing Mike Wang on Dexter Ave last year has pleaded not guilty to the charge of felony hit and run. Erlin Garcia-Reyes, 28, is being held on $500,000 bail.
Garcia-Reyes, a native of Honduras, allegedly made a quick turn in front of Wang, who was in the bike lane. Wang died from his injuries.
Garcia-Reyes was arrested earlier this month following an unrelated hit and run charge involving a gas station window. Nobody was injured in that incident.
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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have placed a detainer on Garcia-Reyes, a sign that he may not have legal immigration status.
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12 responses to “Suspect in Wang’s fatal hit and run pleads not guilty”
I hope they take David Hiller’s advice and hang him by his toenails. It would be one thing if it were an honest accident, but from what I’ve read, it seems that the driver knew he had hit someone.
I’m encouraged. In DFW, a guy as drunk as a skunk killed two cyclists on a sunny morning and got away with $50K bail. And a year in jail for each life he took.
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/headlines/20091218-Sentence-of-two-years-plus-probation-4458.ece
Throw away the key on this a$$hole. It is time to crack down on drivers and crack down HARD. The competency level of driving just keeps going down and down. Have of the lazy cagers out there today should have their licenses suspended. We need to push for much more stringent driving tests and MUCH harsher penalties for worthless drivers like this piece of sh!t.
Sorry, but if you are going to bitch then you also need to bitch about the competency level of cyclists.
OK Mike – some bicyclists are incompetent. That’s my bitch. I wish it wasn’t so, but it is.
Now can we get back to the issue here – incompetent, inattentive, and distracted drivers of motor vehicles are injuring and maiming pedestrians and bicyclists, and other drivers of motor vehicles. Generally, bicycles and pedestrians don’t kill or maim – they might aggravate, annoy, or piss off people – but not kill or maim.
As the Hill Street Blues cop used to say, “Let’s be careful out there…”
What I would really like to see: Ask Mike Wang’s family. What can this guy do to make sure no family has to go through this again? What can he do to make amends to them? As reckless and cowardly as this guy seems to be, he was not trying to kill anyone. Lock him up, that’s fair – but I would hope he gets a chance to make amends as well.
This all depends on whether the dude actually did it. There’s that.
Now there certainly was a dude that did it, and speaking of that dude (who may or not be the same dude): once you hit-and-run, the situation changes completely. When you hit-and-run you deny your victim an immediate response and a first-aid call. You deny your victim the right to reimbursement for property damage. And, sadly, in some cases you deny your victim the ability to afford medical care. Even if the collision was an accident, hit-and-run is intentional. It’s a crime that has no place in a civilized society, and everyone in that society has an interest in such crimes being treated with severe punishment (especially cyclists and pedestrians, who are especially vulnerable to hit-and-run since they’re typically disproportionately injured in collisions). Wang was not the only one to suffer a hit-and-run in the last year, and most of the perpetrators will never be caught. Since some people don’t have the decency to stop for their own reasons, we should send a message: driving off is risky business.
Well said Al.
The only way to hear about circumstances or his side of the story is to plead not guilty. I wouldn’t read to much into it just yet. It’s parr for the course.
It’s also his lawyer’s way of saying, “Ok, prosecutor, what do you have on my client? Show me.”
Exactly.
oh. my. god. what. a. jag. look at that photo. geez.