SAN ANTONIO – A month filled with property crimes and a shooting Tuesday night has a west Bexar County community on edge. A small group in the Cobblestone Community, west of Loop 1604, has formed an armed volunteer patrol that they hope will deter crime.
Carlos Quintanilla, a resident at Cobblestone, said he chose to live in the neighborhood because it’s a gated community. The gates, however, have not been able to keep out all criminals lately.
The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that just in the last month, in the Cobblestone neighborhood alone, there have been four vehicular burglaries and one theft.
That crime includes the shooting of a man that happened late Tuesday night. Bexar County deputies are still trying to determine what happened. It’s one more reason a small group of neighbors have taken security into their own hands.
“People got angry and wanted to stop the crime and protect their neighbors and families and kids,” said Bryan, an armed volunteer, who didn’t want his last name mentioned.
Bryan helped for what’s being called the neighborhood “Armed Volunteer Security Detail.” The volunteers patrol their own streets.
“Patrolling's a loaded word. We're walking around. We’re armed when we do it, and we have the constitutional right to do that,” he said.
Bryan said the volunteers gave backgrounds in the military or law enforcement.
“Either used to use firearms for a living or still do use firearms for a living. (They) operate in those sort of careers, so this is not a big deal to us,” he said.
Some of Bryan’s neighbors, like Quintanilla, said they aren’t comfortable with the idea.
On an app called Nextdoor, certain individuals in the neighborhood are soliciting people to go out and assist them in patrolling the streets.
“I think that the idea is good-natured. They want to help. They want to be able to protect the community, but I think a lot of emotion is involved and you're going out ready for a fight. You're probably going to find a fight,” Quintanilla said.
A spokesperson with the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said they will be increasing patrols in the Cobblestone Community immediately. The spokesperson said while the Sheriff’s Office encourages neighborhood watch programs, they don’t need help enforcing the law.