POTEET, Texas – A 33-year-old man stole an 18-wheeler from a construction site in south Bexar County and led law enforcement authorities on a high-speed chase to Atascosa County, where he was arrested, officials said.
Bexar County sheriff's deputies started pursuing Jeromy Orosco at Loop 1604 and Pleasanton Road, but backed off once he got to Highway 16, where a Texas Department of Public Safety helicopter picked up the chase, officials said.
The chase, which exceeded speeds of 70 mph, ended when Orosco pulled into a neighborhood in Poteet and bailed out of the truck, officials said. Orosco then ran into some thick brush.
"He was hiding pretty good, but we have the general area where he was. But the brush was so thick that it took them awhile to move stuff to find out where he was," Sgt. Anthony Davis, of the Bexar County Sheriff's Office, said.
Orosco was in such a hurry to flee law enforcement that he left the truck running and it rolled toward a home before stopping.
At one point, Orosco tried to ram the truck into a deputy's cruiser, but didn't succeed, officials said.
The owner reported that the truck was taken from a construction site near Highway 181 and Loop 1604, officials said. The owner had a GPS tracking device that helped authorities find the man.
Orosco is expected to be charged with auto theft.