Edinburg man charged in fatal crash had just left a McAllen bar

A 28-year-old Edinburg man accused of running a red light early Saturday morning before killing a 26-year-old woman told police he couldn’t remember where he was going or coming from and kept fainting at the scene of the crash.

Juan Pablo Torres is charged with intoxication manslaughter for killing Adrienne Garza after running the red light at the intersection of Trenton Road and Closner Boulevard at about 2:09 a.m. before hitting Garza’s white BMW passenger car.

The affidavit for his arrest said an officer who arrived on scene found Torres’ Chevrolet Silverado upside down before the officer pulled Torres out of the driver side window.

The officer didn’t observe any injuries to Torres, but noted he smelled a strong odor of alcohol on Torres’ breath and inside the truck.

Authorities also found a beer can inside the vehicle and noted that he couldn’t conduct field sobriety tests because Torres was incoherent and uncooperative while being questioned.

“Officer Ponce will testify that Juan then mentioned to him that he didn’t remember where he was going or where he was coming from and kept fainting at the scene,” the affidavit stated.

Authorities then transported Torres to McAllen Medical Hospital for treatment.

Meanwhile, at the scene of the crash, a witness approached the officer and said that Torres’ truck ran the red light before hitting the white BMW.

The officer also found a man in the white BMW’s passenger seat with serious bodily injuries and tried to make contact with the driver, Garza, who was pinned between the driver’s side door and center console.

She was not responsive and the Edinburg Fire Department extracted her from the vehicle. EMS then transported her to Doctors Hospital Renaissance.

Another officer spoke with a witness named Gonzalo Alberto Gonzalez who said he was leaving the Bert Ogden dealership when he heard a loud impact and saw the crash.

“Gonzalo then assisted on pulling the male, Juan Torres, out from the white truck and who stated that ‘he f—— up by going very fast, ran a red light and he had just left a bar.’”

The passenger in the BMW, Joshua Peter Medrano, told police he couldn’t remember what happened other than that they were headed “home and got hit.”

Medrano was also transported to Doctors Hospital Renaissance for treatment.

The day after the crash, a investigator met with Torres who confessed to drinking at the Hillbilly’s bar in McAllen with a friend before leaving to drive to his home.

“Torres then recalled driving his white Chevrolet pick-up on Trenton Road passing a car wash that was directly across a dealership of KIA/Mazda but then feeling a ‘thump,’” the affidavit stated. “Torres then added that he then remembered (he had) been helped out of a window of his truck, sat down and then waking up at the hospital.”

Investigators also found a black Ruger 5.7 .22 caliber handgun underneath the pick-up.

The affidavit said Torres told investigators that he carried the pistol in his glove box with an extra magazine on the driver’s side. He also said he carried a machete in his vehicle.

He remains held in the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center on a total of $1,525,000 in bonds on charges of intoxication manslaughter, intoxication assault with a vehicle and unlawful carrying of a weapon.