SAN ANTONIO – A woman was arrested Saturday after San Antonio police said she left the scene of a deadly crash she was involved in earlier this year.
Mercedes Haines, 29, is charged with failure to stop and render aid – death, according to records from the Bexar County Jail.
According to police, the charge stems from Jan. 23, 2022, when a man was riding his motorcycle heading westbound on Southcross Blvd. He ignored a red light at the intersection of I-35 S NB access road and drove the overpass, according to an affidavit.
Police said he was traveling too fast through the intersection and crashed into the driver’s side of a Honda Accord.
The motorcyclist was ejected and landed on the roadway, according to SAPD. The occupants of the Honda gathered items from the car before fleeing the crash scene on foot.
EMS responded to the scene and began life-saving measures on the motorcyclist before he was taken to an area hospital. He later died of his injuries.
The man was later identified as Mariano G. Lugo, 30.
Days after the crash, police said multiple witnesses came forward. One of them claimed “they all freaked out after the crash and did not know what to do, so they fled,” an affidavit states.
Surveillance footage from a nearby grocery store was captured moments after the crash. Five individuals were identified through the footage.
The driver was identified as 29-year-old Mercedes Deane Haines.
Haines is being held in the Bexar County Jail and her bond is set at $40,000.