SAN ANTONIO – The morning wakeup call for people in a Southwest Side neighborhood Wednesday came in the form of a loud car crash, then police calling out to someone who ran from that stolen SUV.
“I came out and the first thing I saw, the (SUV) doors were open and the cop was saying, ‘Freeze! Freeze! Freeze!,” said Daryl Gunter, who lives along War Horse Drive near War Cloud Drive.
Gunter ventured outside his home moments after two people in the SUV allegedly caused major destruction.
Police say they plowed through someone’s backyard fence, knocking down two sides of it, then rammed through a fire hydrant and hit a car parked at the curb.
Both the hydrant and the SUV landed in the front yard of another home across the street.
“I looked at it. It looks like just a little bit further and they would’ve went right into that house,” said Marcus Rutledge, who also came out of his home due to the commotion.
Police say they caught one man still inside the vehicle.
The second one ran into a wooded area, prompting officers to launch a manhunt, complete with a helicopter and K9 unit.
“They came right through this fence over here, jumped in back and went right through the forest over there,” Rutledge said.
Eventually, police gave up their search without locating the second suspect.
However, they quickly learned the two men were responsible for more than just bad driving.
Police say the SUV they were in had been stolen during a carjacking earlier in the morning.
The vehicle owner told police he was trying to open the gate to his apartment complex, located near Southwest Loop 410 and Palo Alto Road, when two men pointed guns at him, then drove off in his SUV.
When officers spotted the stolen vehicle later, they say the man behind the wheel sped off, ultimately ending up in the neighborhood and causing all the damage.
“By the grace of God nobody got hurt,” Gunter said.
While there were no injuries related to the crash or carjacking, police said one officer did suffer an accidental minor bite from his K9 partner.