Police arrest suspect in fatal hit-and-run South Padre Island Drive crash

Katie Nickas, Corpus Christi Caller Times
·2 min read

Corpus Christi Police Department officers arrested a suspect in connection to a fatal car crash that happened early Saturday morning at the access road of South Padre Island Drive near Kostoryz Road.

At 1:14 p.m. on March 2, officers were dispatched to the area of Weber and Tripoli roads in reference to a citizen who observed a vehicle with heavy front-end damage parked in a parking lot, according to a press release published on the CCPD Daily Blotter by Senior Officer Jennifer Collier. Officers confirmed the vehicle was the suspect vehicle involved in the hit-and-run fatality accident that happened in the early morning hours in the 2900 block of S. Padre Island Drive.

Traffic Investigators continued their investigation Saturday afternoon and obtained a warrant for 31-year-old Garner Burford for Accident Involving Injury or Death, Collier reported. Bond was set at $75,000. Burford was taken into custody, medically cleared at a local hospital, and transported to the City Detention Center for booking.

According to the release, the accident resulted from the driver of an unknown, dark-colored vehicle striking the passenger car while driving eastbound on State Highway 358. Officers arrived at the site at 1:40 a.m. Saturday morning and confirmed an unknown, dark-colored vehicle struck the passenger car while traveling eastbound on State Highway 358. The impact of the crash forced the other vehicle to veer off the highway, pushing it into a concrete pillar in front of the Oh My Goodness Boutique.

The unknown vehicle fled the scene, last seen driving eastbound on Highway 358.

Officers located a 27-year-old deceased female driver and a 23-year-old male passenger with injuries in the vehicle. CCFD had to extricate the male passenger, then transported him to a local hospital with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries.

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Police arrest hit-and-run South Padre Island Dr. fatal crash suspect