One arrested, one dead in San Antonio to Seguin and back police pursuit

UPDATE 9:43 p.m.:

BEXAR COUNTY (KTSA News) — One man is dead, another arrested in a long off-and-on pursuit between San Antonio and Seguin late Monday night.

San Antonio police say their officers were trying to stop a vehicle of a suspect they say was wanted for several felony offenses.  The driver decided not to stop and left the city on Interstate 10 East with no pursuit from police.

However, the police department’s helicopter was overhead keeping an eye on the car and saw a passenger be dropped off just before leaving the San Antonio city limits.  Officers were able to get to the passenger — later identified as 27-year-old Benjamin Perez — who confirmed to police that their suspect was in fact driving the car.  Perez was arrested after officers found a handgun on him.

The suspect continued east on Interstate 10 toward Seguin when the Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office tried stopping him.  That attempt failed and the driver decided to head back to the Alamo City.

San Antonio police say the county sheriff’s office ended its pursuit as it went back west into Bexar County.  The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office tried their hand at stopping the suspect with spike strips, but that, too, failed.

The suspect reentered San Antonio and a chase ensued with city patrol cars and a helicopter above.  The driver took Interstate 10 to Interstate 35 south to the exit for Division Avenue.

Police used the PIT maneuver and the car ended its run on someone’s front yard on Sims Avenue right along the Interstate 35 frontage road.

Officers used vocal commands to get the suspect out of the car.  That failed, though officers weren’t sure what may have been going on inside the car because of the dark tint on the back windshield and blown airbags.  They approached, opened the driver door and found their suspect dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

The driver’s identity has not been released.

This story has been updated to identify the passenger, not the deceased driver.

Updated reporting by KTSA’s Dennis Foley.

ORIGINAL

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) — A man is dead after leading San Antonio Police on a chase.

It happened at around 10 P.M. Monday.

Officers were chasing the man who was suspected of an earlier robbery. The chase along IH-10 went from San Antonio to Seguin and back again. Officers maneuvered to get the man to stop on Sims Avenue near IH-35.

Officers spent several minutes trying to get the man to come out of the car. They couldn’t see him as the vehicle’s windows were tinted.

They eventually approached the vehicle and when they opened the door, they discovered the man was dead of a self inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

His name hasn’t been released.