Bail set at $10 million in fatal hit-and-run

A 19-year-old driver charged with fatally striking a bicyclist in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park and then fleeing the scene last month made his first appearance in court Tuesday afternoon.

San Francisco resident Nicky Garcia didn’t enter a plea at today’s hearing to charges of murder, vehicular manslaughter, hit-and-run and auto burglary. His case was put over until July 27 and a San Francisco Superior Court judge set his bail at $10 million.

He was arrested Friday in connection with the hit-and-run death of 41-year-old San Francisco resident Heather Miller on June 22 in Golden Gate Park.

Miller was riding her bicycle near John F. Kennedy Drive and 30th Avenue around 6 p.m. when a white Honda Fit struck her.

The driver, later identified as Garcia, was allegedly speeding in the opposite lane of traffic while trying to pass another vehicle when he hit Miller head-on, according to police.

The car, which was later found to be stolen, was discovered a short time later abandoned near the Golden Gate Angling & Casting Club in the park, police said.

On the same day Miller died, another female bicyclist was fatally struck just hours later in an unrelated hit-and-run.

In that incident, Katherine Slattery, 26, was riding at Seventh and Howard streets around 8:25 p.m. when a BMW X3 allegedly speeding through a red light struck her, according to police.

Police arrested San Francisco resident Farrukh Mushtaq, 32, at Ninth and Howard streets, a short distance from the crash, on suspicion of felony hit-and-run and vehicular manslaughter.