SAN ANTONIO – Bexar County sheriff’s deputies arrested a man in connection with an illegal dumping call that turned into a deadly chase last week.
Sheriff Javier Salazar said John Yeates, 39, was arrested Tuesday morning at his home without incident. Salazar said he is facing a felony deadly conduct charge.
Yeates and another person were caught illegally dumping at a car lot in the 12700 block of U.S. Highway 181 on Sept. 11, according to the sheriff.
Salazar said employees of the car lot confronted Yeates and the other driver.
At some point, weapons were shown from both sides, and Yeates and the other driver drove off in a pickup truck, the sheriff said. Employees then followed the truck.
One of those employees was George Gomez, 36. BCSO said during the pursuit, Gomez fired shots at the truck, but it’s unknown if Yeates or the driver fired back. Salazar said if they did, Gomez and his truck were not hit.
Gomez stopped pursuing the truck for unknown reasons and began driving back to the car lot. While doing so, he crashed his vehicle along Highway 181, just before Loop 1604 near Elmendorf.
When Gomez was found, Salazar said his vehicle was under trees. Deputies determined Gomez had not been shot but at some point suffered what appeared to be a heart attack.
Salazar said BCSO is not sure if the adrenaline from the chase caused Gomez to have a heart attack and crash. Gomez broke his neck and back in the crash.
The pickup had a flat tire from the gunfire and pulled over to the side of the road. Yeates and the driver left the truck with witnesses in it to get a tire, Salazar said. When they returned, they saw BCSO deputies investigating the scene and walked away.
Yeates has a lengthy criminal history, including endangerment of a child.
Yeates and the driver of the truck could face illegal dumping charges, but those have not been confirmed yet. The driver was not named, but Salazar said that person was questioned.