SAN ANTONIO – Pedro Rodriguez Medina, 50, who is accused of driving drunk and causing a violent crash that killed 34-year-old Melchor Hernandez, has denied he was behind the wheel, San Antonio police said.
Witnesses, however, pointed out Rodriguez at the scene of the crash shortly before 8:30 p.m. Sunday, police said.
They told police they had seen his extended pickup truck swerving all over the road just before he turned from Southwest Military Drive to the Interstate 35 north access road.
The truck slammed into a metal sign support beam, trapping the driver, Hernandez and another passenger inside.
Several people stopped to help after the crash, including one man who asked not to be identified.
"I noticed there was a vehicle that was completely -- it looked demolished to me -- on the side of the road," he said, recalling the grisly scene.
The man said he saw others pulling the driver from the mangled pickup, then jumped into the bed of the truck as others broke out a back window to rescue the passengers.
They were able to free one man, but Hernandez was beyond help and died at the scene.
"He was stuck in the vehicle," said the unidentified witness. "His legs were, you know, messed up and he was stuck. There was no way to get him out."
He said police and paramedics soon arrived and took over, assisting the injured driver.
Police said the surviving passenger jumped into another car after the crash and left the scene.