SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio police say they have made one arrest in a crime that appears to be plaguing people all across the area.
They caught up with the man in a Northeast Side neighborhood early Wednesday morning after receiving a call about someone in the process of committing car burglaries.
RELATED: Man accused of car burglary on NE Side injured while trying to flee, police say
“It’s a very big issue in and around the city. Huge,” said Sgt. Mario Ramirez with SAPD.
Although the San Antonio Police Department does not separate statistics for car break-ins from other burglaries, their figures show an increase in this type of crime compared to last year.
There have been 1,530 total burglaries in the first two months of this year, while in January of last year there were 1,104.
A resident told KSAT 12 News off-camera that the man police arrested before 5 a.m. had been rifling through his truck and one other vehicle in his driveway.
He says after he activated his truck alarm, the suspect took off.
Police say someone in that house caught the man and held him until officers arrived.
“He was resisting to the point where (officers) were afraid of him running off again,” Ramirez said. “When they brought him back, to try to avoid him taking off again, they took him down.”
The encounter left the suspect with a cut and bump on his head.
Both he and the officers were checked out at the scene by paramedics, and photographed by crime scene investigators.
Police later took the suspect to a hospital.
Ramirez says while no one else was hurt, he does not recommend that people confront criminals who may be armed.
“Whether it be a knife or a gun, we don’t want them to find out the hard way,” he said. “If at all possible, try to get us the best description as possible and direction of flight.”
A better option, police say, is to put your fingers to work by calling them.