SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio police said they have recovered a key piece of evidence in an armed robbery Sunday night on the city’s Northwest Side.
Police believe a gun found in the grass along Vance Jackson Road is the same weapon that was used in the robbery.
“I thought it was a toy, but when I got closer I noticed it was a real weapon, so we called it in,” said Julio Sierra, who first spotted the weapon.
Sierra was on his way to work Monday morning when he noticed what police said is a Czechoslovakian-made automatic weapon near his parking lot.
Sierra said his boss reminded him about a story they saw on KSAT 12 News about the robbery.
The two of them then made the connection and called police.
“If it would’ve been somebody else, a kid or something, it’s very dangerous,” Sierra said.
According to police, two gunmen driving a maroon pickup stopped in front of a driver in the 3300 block of West Avenue late Sunday night.
Police said the men got out of their vehicle and demanded the other driver’s property before speeding away.
Park police officers later spotted the truck near Interstate 10 and Vance Jackson.
They say as the pickup tried to get away from them, it crashed into another car a few blocks away, near Gardina.
The people inside the pickup were able to run away, and although officers searched the area, they did not find them.
Sierra says he hopes he never finds another weapon carelessly discarded.
“We have to more careful,” he said, warning that, “whoever finds it not to touch it and call the authorities right away just to be safe.”
Police are glad that is just what Sierra did.
They are still looking for clues about the robbers.
Investigators planned to look at surveillance video in the area to find out more about them.