SAN ANTONIO – Anthony Quiroga went out to get some food for the family but ended up leading law enforcement on an hour-long chase that ended with his arrest, according one of his family members.
Quiroga, 27, is accused of leading Bexar County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers on a wild chase beginning at 2:30 pm. Tuesday near Highway 16 and Twin Valley.
“He went to go buy sausages from Sam’s because we’re having a plate sale. My brother, his nephew, just died of a rare cancer,” said Jesus Torres, Quiroga’s nephew.
Torres said the store was close by, so after an hour, he worried something had happened.
“We call and start blowing up his phone. Then he calls me and says, ‘Hey I’ll be there in a little bit.’ Then we saw him pass by with the cop cars. Everybody ran to the gate and then he came again,” Torres said.
Man faces slew of charges following lengthy car chase through San Antonio
During that hour, investigators said Quiroga rear-ended an 18-wheeler, briefly stopped to let a passenger out and took off to Loop 410 and Interstate 35.
BCSO confirmed Somerset police arrested the passenger, identified as Sara Jane Fowler, who has been charged with evading arrest and unauthorized use of a vehicle.
Quiroga then rammed a gate at a construction company before bailing from the car in the 1300 block of West Hutchins Place, BCSO said. Torres said that’s in the neighborhood where his family was waiting for him.
“The chase ended right here,” Torres said. “He ran and I was on the phone with him and I heard him, so I started running, too, and I started crying.”
Officers soon caught up to Quiroga and arrested him.
Quiroga is charged with evading arrest, aggravated assault against a public servant, possession, criminal mischief, failure to stop to give information, assault on a public servant. His bail has been set at $150,000.
Online jail records show Quiroga has previously been charged with theft in 2010 and 2013, unauthorized use of a vehicle in 2017 and forgery in 2018.