Santa Maria man accused of causing crash during pro-Trump rally to stand trial

A man blamed for causing a crash involving some participants in a post-election parade of then-President Donald Trump supporters last year in Santa Maria must stand trial for two felony charges, a Santa Maria Superior Court judge recently ruled.

In a criminal complaint filed in April, Jacob Elieth Garza, 21, was charged with felony reckless driving and felony battery with serious bodily injury along with a pair of misdemeanor charges for throwing something at a vehicle.

Last year, Santa Maria police said Trump supporters were staging a post-election caravan rally on Nov. 8, 2020, when Garza began following in his own car, allegedly throwing a water bottle and yelling at participants. Organizers called the event, one of several similar events held that day across the Central Coast, #StoptheSteal.

Police said Garza sped south on South Speed Street, a block west of South Miller Street, ran the stop sign at East Stowell Road and slammed into a vehicle driving through the intersection. The impact sent the second car crashing into a third vehicle before it flipped on its side.

Two people in the second car were injured, one with a broken arm and the other with extensive bruising.

Officers arrived at the scene to find chaos, with witnesses detaining Garza on the ground and bystanders arguing with one another.

Viral video posted online showed one man with his arm around Garza’s neck and others holding him down.

Garza claimed on social media that he was the victim of a hate crime and launched a GoFundMe page titled “Justice for Jacob,” raising $4,100 toward a $10,000 goal. The site remained active this week and doesn’t mention his legal troubles.

Deputy District Attorney Stephen Wagner is the prosecutor for the case. Garza is represented by attorney Paul Greco.

At the end of the preliminary hearing, Judge Patricia Kelly deemed that enough evidence existed for Garza to stand trial on the two felony charges, but not the pair of misdemeanor charges.

In a second preliminary hearing for a different case, the judge ruled that Garza should be held to answer to a felony grand theft charge stemming from incidents that occurred when he worked at Victoria’s Secret in the Santa Maria Town Center mall.

The three incidents in early 2021 amounted to a theft of more than $1,100.

Before those two cases, Garza had been charged with two misdemeanor counts of driving or taking a vehicle without consent plus petty theft.

Garza, who is free of custody, was ordered back to court on the Santa Maria cases next Thursday for an arraignment hearing.