OAKLAND — The suspected driver of a stolen SUV that crashed into a 42-year-old man, severing his leg and killing him, has been arrested and charged with manslaughter, court records show.
Police say that 35-year-old Jose Gonzalez, of Hayward, crashed a stolen SUV into Luciano Carmona-Garcia, pinning Carmona-Garcia between the SUV and a minivan, and causing fatal injuries. Gonzalez fled the scene of the crash before police arrived, but left behind a Gatorade bottle that contained his DNA and ultimately led to his arrest, according to court records.
Police say Carmona-Garcia died from blood loss after his leg was completely severed in the crash.
The crash occurred on Oct. 25, 2023, on the 4200 block of International Boulevard in Oakland, according to court records. It went unsolved until last February, when police say they arrested a person for driving a stolen car, who provided information that helped identify Gonzalez as the driver in the fatal hit-and-run.
After receiving information from this informant, authorities were able to test Gonzalez’s DNA against the Gatorade bottle and airbags in the car, when Gonzalez was arrested in an unrelated car theft investigation last April, according to court records. Prosecutors filed vehicular manslaughter, leaving the scene of a crash, and car theft charges against Gonzalez last month, records show.
Gonzalez has multiple prior car theft convictions and a conviction for evading police, according to the criminal complaint. His bail has been set at $142,500.
