Austin, TX : Man dead, officer injured after fiery single-vehicle crash at Pecan Springs Road and Springdale Road in East Austin on Tuesday, March 1, 2016

An investigation into a deadly crash is leading authorities to believe some sort of criminal activity led up to the incident.

Police were called out to the crash at around 7:00 a.m. Tuesday. It happened near the intersection of Pecan Springs Road and Springdale Road.

Carlos Swist was the driver of the car, and did not survive.

Family members say they’re devastated, and want to know exactly what happened.

“He didn’t deserve that and no one really knows what all went on,” said Clyneisha Reed, one of Swist’s cousins. “And we’re hearing different things, and we don’t really know what to believe.”

Family members say while Swist made some mistakes in his past, he had turned his life around. They say he deeply loved his four-year-old daughter.

“With her not even being able to talk to her dad, her not even knowing that he’s gone and he’s not never going to come back,” said Reed.

Swist worked for an Austin florist, and was driving a company car at the time of the crash.

A former co-worker tells KXAN that Swist was always willing to take the route no one else wanted to take, and that he was always smiling.

When officers arrived at the scene, the vehicle was on fire. “Officers attempted to get close to the vehicle and observed there was a person inside and attempted to rescue the driver,” said Senior Police Officer Bino Cadenas. One officer suffered minor burn injuries and was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Investigators are still trying to determine what caused him to crash into the tree.

Source :
Family wants answers after fiery East Austin crash