Man gets out of SUV to confront teens, then it rolled and killed one, Texas cops say

A Texas man is under arrest after his vehicle hit and killed a teen he allegedly chased and assaulted in the street, Austin police told news outlets.

Xavier Zarate, 41, has been charged with injury to a child following the evening incident on April 10, KEYE reported.

Around 5:40 p.m., Zarate drove after two teen boys he accused of having vandalized his home, KVUE reported. They threw feces onto his doorstep that Sunday, but the boys also had vandalized the house before, Zarate told investigators.

They pedaled away on bikes, but Zarate closed in on them near the entrance to the Olympic Heights neighborhood. He got out of his vehicle and started hitting them, witnesses told police, KXAN reported.

But Zarate apparently forgot to put the vehicle in park.

The SUV rolled forward, crushing one of the boys under its wheels, before coming to a stop about 180 feet away, police told KVUE. Zarate’s 4-year-old child was in the vehicle’s backseat at the time.

The teen was taken to a hospital where he died from his injuries, KXAN reported.

This story was originally published April 12, 2022 at 1:59 PM with the headline "Man gets out of SUV to confront teens, then it rolled and killed one, Texas cops say."