Hollister Police Department announced it arrested April Garcia, 24, from Vallejo for robbery and attempted murder.
According to a news release, on March 18 at about 6:40 p.m., officers were dispatched to a report of a female driving in the areas of Fourth Street and then Central Avenue with a male hanging on to the hood of her vehicle. Officers arrived in the area and located the victim, who had fallen from the car and was lying in the roadway with witnesses tending to him. The Hollister Fire Department and American Medical Response arrived on scene and rendered aid to the victim who was later flown by air ambulance to Natividad Hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Police say during the investigation, officers learned there appeared to be some transaction between the suspect and a male victim and when the suspect drove away with the victim’s money, he jumped on the vehicle hood trying to stop her. The suspect allegedly drove for about ¾ of a mile at high speeds before the victim fell from the hood.
The news release did not provide additional information about the alleged transaction and did not immediately respond to BenitoLink’s phone call for clarification.
The news release said witnesses provided officers with the suspect vehicle description and a license plate number, which indicated the car was registered to an address in Vallejo, CA.
It added officers entered the license plate number into the FLOCK Camera System, a system recently installed in Hollister that reads license plate numbers, and found a recording of the suspected vehicle entering Hollister prior to the crime. Police said they were alerted by the Gilroy FLOCK system the vehicle was detected by their cameras and a “Be on the Lookout” alert was broadcasted to agencies between Hollister and Vallejo.
According to the release, an officer from the California Highway Patrol (Gilroy/Hollister area office) spotted the suspect vehicle traveling northbound on Highway 101 and stopped it in Morgan Hill. A Hollister officer responded to the scene of the stop and took custody of the driver and the vehicle.
Police said April Garcia was arrested, transported back to Hollister and booked at the San Benito County Jail on multiple charges including attempted murder and robbery.
“We would like to thank those witnesses who called and provided us with the information used to locate the suspect,” police said. “We would also like to thank the Gilroy Police Department for their assistance with the FLOCK system and California Highway Patrol for assisting us with the stop and detention of the suspect.”
This is an ongoing investigation. Anyone with information regarding this investigations is requested to contact the Hollister Police Department at 831-636-4331. Persons wishing to remain anonymous may call WeTip at (800) 78-CRIME. Information provided to WeTip may qualify for a reward.
