SAN ANTONIO – A driver was arrested on Tuesday after he hit a student last week outside Pieper High School and fled the scene, according to the Bexar County Pct. 3 Constable’s Office.
Joe Louis Ash, 53, was taken into custody and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, jail records show.
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Officers were notified about the crash on Thursday, May 7, while students were entering the campus in the morning at the rear stadium parking lot.
In a news release, the constable’s office said video evidence showed a parent, later identified as Ash, driving through the parking lot after dropping off a child.
According to an arrest affidavit, the assistant principal reported the student was walking with friends through the parking lot when he was struck by Ash’s black Ford Raptor truck.
Surveillance video showed the students walking in the main lanes of the parking lot when the vehicle approached them from the rear. Ash slowed behind the group for a few seconds before he accelerated, hit the student, and left the campus, the affidavit states.
Several witnesses told investigators that Ash honked his vehicle horn before hitting the student and then fled the scene afterward. The affidavit states a witness also reported seeing Ash make a “shoo” motion with his hand before accelerating.
The student was struck on the left side of his body. A school nurse evaluated the student, who was later released to his parents. The constable’s office said he reported pain and sustained multiple scrapes.
The affidavit states the student refused an ice pack or any medication.
At around 10:20 a.m. on May 7, the affidavit states that Ash returned to the school because he “heard something happened in the parking lot.”
Investigators spoke with Ash, reviewed his Miranda warning, and asked whether he wanted to answer a few questions about the crash.
Ash responded with, “I guess with that being read, I guess not,” the affidavit states. “I guess with you reading that, anything I say can be used against me. I think I want my lawyer.”
Ash was booked into the Bexar County Adult Detention Center on Tuesday, jail records indicate. His bond amount is set at $75,000.
Pieper High School is located in the Comal Independent School District.