Fatal Crash Sunday Morning Shuts Down I-35 Southbound

San Marcos Police responded Sunday to what was first a call for an allegedly stolen vehicle but became a major collision.

At approximately 1:54 a.m. Sunday, Apr. 21, San Marcos Police received a call for a major traffic collision on southbound Interstate 35 just before the 200 exit at McCarty Lane.

SMPD, along with the San Marcos Fire Department, San Marcos/Hays EMS and Texas Department of Public Safety Troopers responded to the scene. Juan Martinez, 27, of New Braunfels was pronounced dead at the scene by Justice of the Peace Jo Anne Prado.

The call initially started as an alleged stolen vehicle. The victim tells police he was getting food in downtown San Marcos in the 100 block of S. Guadalupe St. and left his 2008 Audi A4 running and unattended at which time Martinez jumped into the victim’s car and fled. The victim followed in a friend’s vehicle as they entered Interstate 35.

Martinez continued driving the stolen vehicle southbound for a short time before he crashed into the back of a semi-truck, resulting in his death.

All lanes of Interstate 35 southbound were closed and diverted to the frontage road from approximately 2 a.m. to 8 a.m. This is the second fatal collision in San Marcos in 2019.