SAN ANTONIO – A 24-year-old man who police said was driving a car that was taken in a carjacking was killed shortly after police called off a chase on the city's Northwest Side, San Antonio police said.
The man, who has been identified as Sonie Cruz, was making a desperate attempt to get away from officers when he crashed, police said.
Police Chief William McManus told reporters shortly after the 3:30 a.m. crash that the car was stolen in a West Side neighborhood a few hours earlier, where a man reported that he was beaten by a group of people who, initially, had ripped a mirror off his car.
McManus said after they beat the man, one of them drove off in his car, striking him with the vehicle in the hip and legs.
Officers located the stolen car a few hours later.
"The vehicle was emitting LoJack signals, and it was picked up somewhere on or off of Highway 90," McManus said. "Our officers fell in behind it, followed it to just short of where we are now."
McManus said officers eventually were called off the chase, and seconds later, the crash occurred.
"He jumped the median strip, entered the freeway, where he was struck by a white pickup," McManus said. "The pickup was driving on (Loop) 410 and it happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."
A man and his wife inside the pickup were taken to a hospital for treatment. Three passengers in the stolen car and the victim of the carjacking were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.