Neighbor recalls disputes with woman accused of fatally running over man with vehicle

Anna Orourke, 58, faces a murder charge, police say

SAN ANTONIO – Neighbors say they’ve had their own share of trouble with a woman who is accused of purposely running over a man in the middle of an ongoing dispute.

San Antonio police have identified the suspect in this case as Anna Orourke, 58. She was arrested Monday morning on a murder charge, police said.

Police say Orourke had an ongoing dispute with her neighbor, who was identified as Stephen Sanders. Although SAPD says Sanders was 63 years old, the Bexar County Medical Examiner said he was 56 years old.

A preliminary police report says officers received a call from Orourke around 1:30 a.m. Monday, saying that she had run over Sanders and wanted them to check on his status.

Officers found Sanders dead at the scene near the corner of Putman and Big Meadows streets.

Hours later, others in the neighborhood, located off Vance Jackson Road near Wurzbach Road, woke up to the news.

“It’s sad to say that I’m not as surprised as I should be that someone was murdered in our neighborhood right here,” said Brittaney Lopez, pointing to the area where the crash happened.

Lopez said she is familiar with both neighbors and agrees with what police say, that there was bad blood between them.

“In the middle of the night we’d see (Orourke) shine lights or strobe lights into the house,” Lopez said. “(Sanders) seemed not to bother anybody too much.”

Like several other neighbors who spoke to KSAT off-camera, Lopez also told stories of her own run-ins with Orourke.

Lopez said Orourke made several bogus complaints to the police about her and her family.

“(My) newborn baby crying, (saying) that maybe we’re abusing the baby,” Lopez said, holding her son in her arms. “I mean, it was hard to live here with her for a long time.”

Investigators have not disclosed exactly what led to Monday’s deadly conflict between Sanders and Orourke.

However, SAPD data supports the theory of ongoing trouble.

During the past year, officers have been called for disturbances at the homes of both the victim and suspect on 59 different occasions.

Although no specific details of those calls were included in the data, several of them were listed as “disturbance-neighbor.”

After this episode of deadly violence, Lopez said she hopes her neighborhood will have some peace.


About the Authors

Katrina Webber joined KSAT 12 in December 2009. She reports for Good Morning San Antonio. Katrina was born and raised in Queens, NY, but after living in Gulf Coast states for the past decade, she feels right at home in Texas. It's not unusual to find her singing karaoke or leading a song with her church choir when she's not on-air.

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