4 teens charged in shooting, break-in at UTSA student living complex

SAPD: One teen was arrested in February after shooting officer

Courtesy: Bexar County Jail

SAN ANTONIO – An in-depth investigation into an apartment break-in and shooting at a student living complex near the University of Texas at San Antonio has connected four teens to the violent crime.

Around 5:30 a.m. on Jan. 21, officers with the San Antonio Police Department went to the apartment complex in the 7100 block of UTSA Boulevard for a report of a shooting.

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Police said a man and a woman, both 22, were inside a bedroom when three gunmen wearing UTSA hoodies kicked in the man's apartment door and started shooting through his bedroom door.

While the two people were not injured in the shooting, police said another woman, 21, was asleep in a neighboring apartment when one of the bullets went through the adjoining wall and struck her left foot. The woman was OK and treated at the scene, police said.

After the shooting, the man told police that Conrad Perez, 17, mentioned the incident to him, saying he and his friends were the ones responsible, according to an arrest affidavit.

Conrad Perez, 17

Perez, who was already in custody on an unrelated charge of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, later shared details about the shooting with detectives, the affidavit said.

Perez said his friend, Todd Smith, 17, wanted to rob the man and he had agreed to participate in the robbery, the affidavit said.

Todd Smith, 17

According to the affidavit, Perez was outside the apartment in a stolen 2009 Toyota Camry acting as the getaway driver, and Jonathan Cruz Garcia, Smith and the 15-year-old boy were the shooters.

On Jan. 25, four days after the shooting, police said officers took Perez and the teen boy into custody after they were spotted in the stolen Camry.

RELATED: 3 men wearing UTSA hoodies at large after break-in, shooting at student living complex, SAPD says

After Perez confessed to the shooting, police said the man was able to identify Garcia on a photo lineup and Smith through an Instagram account as two of the shooters.

Smith was taken into custody Monday night and his bail has been set at $75,000, according to online records.

Perez, Garcia, Smith and the 15-year-old boy are facing a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony.

Jonathan Cruz Garcia, 17

Garcia, 17, was already in custody, having been arrested in late February on suspicion of shooting Drew Matthewson, a San Antonio police officer, following a car chase in a stolen vehicle. Prosecutors charged Garcia with attempted capital murder of a police officer, evading arrest and theft of a vehicle.

On the day of Garcia's arrest, Police Chief William McManus said investigators believe Garcia may be part of a larger criminal group working in the area.

RELATED: Teen who police said ambushed, shot SAPD officer after chase ID'd

According to online records, Perez has previous arrests on suspicion of theft, burglary of a vehicle, unlawful carry of a handgun in a motor vehicle, and harboring a runaway child.

The 15-year-old boy has an extensive criminal history which includes previous arrests for burglary of a habitation by force, burglary of a vehicle, and assault causing bodily injury, according to the affidavit.

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