Troy Reynolds takes the stand in hit-and-run trial: “I wasn’t thinking correctly”
Troy Reynolds returned to court yesterday (03/24) morning for a jury trial. Reynolds is the suspect in a fatal hit-and-run collision from January 26, 2024, that killed Joshua Barreras, a Yucca Valley teenager. Barreras was found by Morongo Basin Sheriff’s Deputies lying unresponsive on the center median of Twentynine Palms Highway near the intersection with Avalon Avenue, and was pronounced deceased that night. The jury trial for the case began last week before Judge Sarah Oliver; District Attorney Jason Gueltzow is representing the prosecution, and Attorney James Rogan is representing the defense.
The trial continued with the prosecution’s questioning of Detective Shane Crowl, who worked as the lead investigator on the case. Crowl recapped testimony from Thursday (3/19) that a review of bodycam footage from January 26 led to the identification of Reynolds as having been on site of the collision, and vehicle parts collected from the scene matched one of Hill’s Towing trucks on a roster due from the business’s rotation contract with the Sheriff’s Department.
The court then watched roughly 37 minutes of bodycam footage taken by Crowl during the execution of a search warrant at Hill’s Towing from February 8, 2024, much of which encompassed his questioning of Reynolds. While Reynolds initially denied any knowledge of the reason for the search, he then began to admit more, saying, “I just got scared… I saw like a flash, something stepped right out in front of me. I didn’t know if it was a dog or what…”
Through questioning with Crowl, Reynolds explained that after feeling the impact of the collision, he pulled over to the right-hand shoulder to survey damage to the vehicle. Upon seeing the Sheriff’s Deputies’ lights in his rearview mirror, he backed up and saw Barreras lying in the center median, and said he assumed the teenager was injured. Reynolds said that when a Sheriff’s Deputy, whom he thought was an EMT, asked if he had seen anything, he said no.
Reynolds then described driving to his office on Yucca Trail, after which he received a tow request to a Honda dealership in Riverside County around 9:30 p.m. He said he pulled broken pieces of the headlight from the vehicle. After dropping off the order, Reynolds said he had his employee, James Phipps, pick him up, and the two returned to Yucca Valley between 3 and 4 a.m. Crowl asked if Reynolds had told anyone about what happened, to which he said no, just that he said he was in a collision. The bodycam footage concludes with Crowl requesting to review camera footage from Hill’s Towing from the night of the collision.
After the lunch recess, Crowl also testified that on February 9, he reviewed video footage provided by a resident who lived on the north side of Twentynine Palms Highway. The video footage captured an eastbound pickup truck that made a U-turn close to the time of the collision; Crowl stated he had been aware of the vehicle, but had not located the driver for further questioning. Detective Tyler Bengard confirmed that he visited Maaco Auto Body Shop in Riverside on the evening of February 8, and was shown damaged parts taken from the Hill’s Towing truck during repair.
The defense then moved to call its first witness, Laura Fisher, who is Reynolds’ sister and also the dispatcher and office manager of Hill’s Towing. Through the defense’s questioning, Fisher said that the business keeps a cash reserve of $10,000 in their safe, and is often paid in cash by both lenders and customers. She explained that only Reynolds and his wife hold business credit cards with their names; whenever drivers need vehicle parts or work orders for company vehicles, she provides them with cash upon their production of a receipt. Fisher said that the company regularly receives tow orders that extend beyond the Morongo Basin; she remembered the Maaco work order was for approximately $7,500, and she reconciled the cash used to pay with a receipt.
Upon cross-examination, Fisher told Gueltzow that she had not confirmed that the company had a tow order to Riverside County on the evening of January 26. Further, Gueltzow asked why the damaged truck was not turned into insurance or taken to one of the auto body shops in Yucca Valley, from which several business owners wrote letters on Reynolds’ behalf. To the latter, Fisher said, “I don’t know why he did it.”
With roughly a half-hour left on the court’s calendar for the day, Troy Reynolds took the witness stand. The defense’s questioning began with recapping much of the narrative that Reynolds had told Crowl about the events of January 26, 2024. When inquired about his thought process, Reynolds said he had tunnel vision, saying, “I wasn’t thinking correctly, I wish I was, but I wasn’t…”. He went on to say, “…I thought it was a paramedic, asked me a question, if I had seen anything, and I said no because I didn’t. At that time, I didn’t know what had happened.”
After noting that he hadn’t been in an accident in his 30 years of tow truck driving, Reynolds became emotional when talking about seeing Barreras lying on the center median, saying, “I didn’t know it was a kid.”
Reynolds continued by narrating that he received a tow request to a Honda dealership in Riverside County and had Phipps pick him up, stating that he couldn’t focus enough to drive and felt he was having a heart attack. Phipps, who is a driver and mechanic for Hill’s Towing, suggested dropping the tow truck for repairs nearby, and the two brought the vehicle to Moss Bros. Auto Group in Riverside.
Reynolds said, “It’s something I live with every day. It’s something that I’ll live with for the rest of my life.”
Judge Oliver ordered the jury trial to continue on Thursday morning (3/25) with Reynolds resuming his place at the witness stand.
Troy Reynolds is charged with Felony Hit and Run Resulting in Permanent Injury or Death. He is currently out on $500,000 bail.
