SAN ANTONIO – A 31-year-old man accused of purposely running down two women, killing one of them, had prior arrests related to violence.
Frank Gonzalez was arrested Wednesday night on outstanding warrants. Later, he was charged with murder.
Records show the warrants stemmed from prior arrests, including one for domestic violence and another for making a terroristic threat.
The latest arrest was in connection with the crash Aug. 27 in the 1400 block of Southwest Military Drive. San Antonio police believe Gonzalez was driving the pickup truck that ran down two women in the parking lot near Bud Jones restaurant.
Pauline Elizondo, 42, died at the scene. Samantha Zapata, 21, was hospitalized.
They had been friends ever since they both worked as cashiers at Bud Jones, according to Elizondo’s husband, Reynaldo.
He said when his daughter told him Gonzalez had been arrested, he told her, “Now your mom can rest in peace.”
The arrest came within hours of Elizondo’s visitation Thursday evening, followed by a memorial service and mass on Friday.
Her son Ricky remembered his mother as being “a person who everybody could go to when they were down.”
An arrest warrant affidavit said that the two victims had just left a nearby nightclub.
The affidavit said that investigators later received a tip from someone who identified Gonzalez as the man in the video. The tipster also told them he was hiding out at a home in the 1000 block of Sacramento Avenue.
Police said they arrested Gonzalez Wednesday after finding him nearby hidden in a stolen car.
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Reynaldo Elizondo said he and his son are grateful for whoever did the right thing by alerting police.
“I wish they were here so I could thank them,” Elizondo said.
"My niece was out here playing, and I guess she came inside and said, 'Somebody is getting arrested," said Jose Fernandez, who was visiting relatives at a nearby home. "So we just came outside real quick, and they had about five undercover detectives in regular cars and then about four police cars."
Fernandez said he was told officers were in the area to arrest someone with outstanding warrants. Later he learned that Gonzalez was also wanted for murder.
According to the affidavit, Gonzalez was questioned by detectives after his arrest and eventually admitted to running down the two women. Gonzalez told detectives he ran down the woman in self-defense because he thought the women might hurt him, the affidavit said.
Gonzalez being held in the Bexar County Jail with bonds totaling more than $177,000 on charges including murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.