Cellphone video shows failed sobriety test after driver hits 4 vehicles in West Side neighborhood

Neighbor who took video says her truck is probably totaled

SAN ANTONIO – An alleged drunken driver wreaked havoc on a West Side neighborhood around 3 a.m. Thursday.

Police responded to the 5100 block of Grovehill Street, where four vehicles had been hit.

Authorities identified the driver as 36-year-old Pete Barela. 

Resident Kimberly Mendoza owns two of the four vehicles that were damaged.

"We have the complete rear that's damaged and crunched in, and you can see where the tail has been pushed in and up. Damage to our window — it was blown completely out. Then we have the front end damage from him pushing us into the neighbor's yard as well," Mendoza said, showing the damage as she circled her vehicles.

Mendoza took cellphone video of the driver's failed sobriety test, which landed him in handcuffs. She said he must have had a lot to drink, considering the extensive damage he caused.

"We heard this huge crash. When I got up, I could see ... where my truck is, just lights and smoke. Somewhere along the line, he was trying to reverse out to try and go the opposite direction since the white truck he pushed our truck into was blocking the way," she said.

Mendoza said the driver finally got out of his car and tried to walk down the street.

"I notified him, 'I'm recording you. Where are you going?' And the neighbor stopped him about a house and a half down and he started walking back," she said.

In her video, she can be heard asking the driver if there is anyone else in his truck. He says there isn't.

Mendoza said the man revealed more information to her next-door neighbor.

"She asked him if he was alright, what was he doing and if he was drunk or something, and that's when he mentioned he had been drinking," she said.

Mendoza recently dealt with a similar situation.

"A month and a half ago, two months ago, an older vehicle of mine was sideswiped — hit-and-run. Then there was a drunk(en) driver who hit that fence on the corner. That was about five or six months ago," she said, pointing to where the incident happened. "There's people rushing up and down this street like it's a main street, like there's not kids playing."

Mendoza said she wants speed bumps installed on her road, but more importantly, she wants people to see the damage drinking and driving can cause.

Police are still putting their report together and have not yet identified the driver.


About the Author:

Courtney Friedman anchors KSAT’s weekend evening shows and reports during the week. Her ongoing Loving in Fear series confronts Bexar County’s domestic violence epidemic. She joined KSAT in 2014 and is proud to call the SA and South Texas community home. She came to San Antonio from KYTX CBS 19 in Tyler, where she also anchored & reported.