SAN ANTONIO – A pair of wheels proved to be no match for a posse of police after a pair of burglaries early Friday on the city's Northwest Side.
San Antonio police officers said they arrested a man around 4 a.m. Friday after he had trouble pedaling away from them on a bicycle.
"That was his vehicle to get away. However, he didn't get very far," said San Antonio police Sgt. Darvel Hodge. "He tripped over and started running in the residential area and, kind of, hid behind the building."
Some officers ran after him, while others remained at the crime scene.
They originally had received a report of an overnight break-in at Rosa Martha's Catering, in the 2500 block of Vance Jackson Road. Police soon realized the beauty shop next door also had been hit.
"There was a witness that called it in. They said they saw one individual inside of the catering business," Hodge said.
Officers tracked down the man in a nearby neighborhood and found him hiding on the roof of a home.
Hodge said they took the man into custody on a number of charges, including burglary.
Police recovered everything that was stolen from both businesses.
Rosa Martha Perez, the catering shop owner, heard about the break-in in a middle-of-the-night phone call and worried the news might ruin her day.
"I was kind of concerned because I had everything for a catering today," she said. "So I was, like, 'Oh, my God. What's going to happen to my food?"
It turns out none of the food was touched.
Perez is glad her neighbor didn't lose anything.
Both business owners were left repairing windows that were shattered during the burglaries.
Despite the headache, Perez was able to find humor -- particularly from the thought of the fleeing suspect teetering off his bicycle.
"It's funny," she said. "Thank God that everything is fine."
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