Former El Paso City Rep. Joe Molinar admits to hit-and-run at East El Paso Chinese restaurant

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) – When contacted by phone, former El Paso City Representative Joe Molinar admitted that he was the driver who hit a van in a parking lot and left.

The security cameras of the restaurant Quik Wok captured video of the hit-and-run. It began to circulate on social media. El Pasoans commented on the video that Molinar was the man behind the wheel of the dark blue Ford F-150 pickup truck.

"Yes, it is Joe Molinar. I regret leaving the scene, and I'm willing to make restitution to the owner of the vehicle,” Molinar told ABC-7.

Molinar can be seen on security camera video backing into a gray minivan, getting out of the truck, looking at the damage, then looking around the area, getting back in his truck and driving away.

Three people later came out of the restaurant and examined the minivan.

Sebastian Banda, Quik Wok’s assistant manager, said a woman came back into the restaurant and asked him to check the security cameras.

“There was a lot of damage, and I felt very bad, so I went behind the cameras and I was able to get the footage,” Banda told ABC-7.

Banda says Molinar returned to the restaurant on Monday around 1 p.m. to leave his contact information for the owner of the minivan.

ABC-7 contacted the owner of the minivan for comment on the situation, but she has not yet responded.

Molinar was elected El Paso’s City Representative for District 4 in 2020 and ran for reelection in 2024, but was defeated by Cynthia Boyar Trejo.

Molinar is also a veteran of the United States Marine Corps and a retired El Paso Police Department Lieutenant.

ABC-7 also reached out to the El Paso Police Department, who gave us the case number for the police report. We then filed an open records request, but have not yet received any information.