Fort Worth cops ask for help to find hit-and-run driver who killed 74-year-old grandfather

Domingo Ramirez Jr.
·2 min read

Police have asked for help to identify and locate a hit-and-run driver who killed a 74-year-old grandfather as he walked near his Fort Worth home in the Polytechnic Heights neighborhood.

Fort Worth police determined that 74-year-old Juan Garcia had been lawfully crossing the intersection when a car, traveling northbound, failed to yield to Garcia, and hit and killed him on Aug. 12.

This week, police released a home surveillance video that shows a dark SUV on the street that quickly took off.

The fatal accident occurred about 9:50 p.m. on Aug. 12 in the 1500 block of Vaughn Boulevard.

Andres Garcia, Juan’s grandson, found his grandfather lying on the road, according to a WFAA-TV report.

The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled that the 74-year-old died from blunt force injuries.

The family told WFAA that they’re devastated and want the person responsible for the death of “Don Juan” to come forward to police.

“I haven’t been able to leave my room,” Andres Garcia told the TV station.

74-year-old Juan Garcia of Fort Worth was killed by a hit-and-run driver on the night of Aug. 12, 2022. on a Fort Worth street. Police are looking for the driver.
74-year-old Juan Garcia of Fort Worth was killed by a hit-and-run driver on the night of Aug. 12, 2022. on a Fort Worth street. Police are looking for the driver.

Andres told WFAA that his grandfather liked to walk at night to avoid the heat.

“Who’s to say it won’t happen again?” Andres said. “How’s that person able to live with themselves knowing they ruined our lives? Do what’s right and just confess to it.”

Juan Garcia had 10 grandchildren and an 11th on the way, WFAA reported. His family had planned to take him and his wife to Las Vegas to celebrate their 51st wedding anniversary, which was on Sunday, two days after his death.

“He was a man that was full of life and always had a wise word for anyone in earshot,” wrote Doroteo Garcia on a GoFundMe account. “This was a sudden and tragic loss.”

Juan Garcia was born in South Texas in 1947 and lived all over Texas and in Denver, Colorado, in the 1970s, eventually settling down in Fort Worth with his family.

He had a lifelong obsession with motorcycles, especially Harley-Davidsons as well as strong relationships with his children and grandchildren, according to the GoFundMe page.

The GoFundMe account for Juan Garcia was established to help the family pay the funeral costs.

Anyone with information should call Fort Worth police at 817-392-4887.