SAN ANTONIO – Months after a man was killed in a hit-and-run while riding his bicycle on Denver Boulevard, San Antonio police said they have arrested the man they believe caused the fatal crash.
Howard Franklin, 39, is charged with failure to stop and render aid, a second-degree felony, in the death of 61-year-old Santiago Castillo.
Police were able to speak with two of the passengers of the SUV Franklin was allegedly driving, who described a wild, late night with the driver who they knew as “Tookie.”
The man and woman in their 20s said Franklin was giving them a ride the night of May 22 in a Dodge Durango. After making a stop at a convenience store, they said Franklin started driving fast down Denver Boulevard with an unknown SUV behind them.
The passengers said they tried to get Franklin to slow down. The man said he even climbed up to the front and struggled with Franklin, who overpowered him.
Both of the passengers said they felt the Durango hit Castillo, who was riding his bike in the 500 block of Denver Boulevard. He was pronounced at the San Antonio Military Medical Center later that night.
The man and woman said they requested that Franklin stop because of the crash, but he didn’t and even threatened them.
The passengers picked Franklin out a photo lineup, and police were able to find video surveillance footage from before the crash of one of the passengers and a man that looked like Franklin at the convenience store at which they had stopped.
Police also found home surveillance video from nearby that showed two SUVs traveling fast, as the passengers had described.
Franklin is in the Bexar County Jail on a $25,000 bond.