Hit-and-run driver killed after crashing into police cruiser

Driver identified as Jonathan Paul Smith, 31

SAN ANTONIO – A 31-year-old man who was killed after he crashed his pickup truck into a police cruiser was fleeing the scene of a hit-and-run crash prior to the fatality, police said.

Jonathan Paul Smith, 31, was speeding in his 2001 Ford F-150 in the 300 block of West Southcross around 11 p.m. when he ran past a stop sign on Tupper Avenue and struck the patrol car, police said.

The patrol car spun and hit a utility pole, officials said, and Officer Jesus Aguirre sustained minor injuries.

Smith was taken to University Hospital, where he died.

The hit-and-run accident happened three blocks away in the 800 block of West Brunswick Boulevard, police said.

Desireah Yanes woke up after she heard the first crash.

"I was asleep and I heard a loud bang," she said. 

Yanes said her aunt told her that she saw a "big four-by-four truck leave the scene" after hitting her aunt's car.

Yanes said she's grateful the crash didn't happened during the day.

"My kids are always coming back and forth to my aunt's house and my house, and I just thank God nothing happened to my family," she said.


About the Authors:

Max Massey is the GMSA weekend anchor and a general assignments reporter. Max has been live at some of the biggest national stories out of Texas in recent years, including the Sutherland Springs shooting, Hurricane Harvey and the manhunt for the Austin bomber. Outside of work, Max follows politics and sports, especially Penn State, his alma mater.

Ben Spicer is a digital journalist who works the early morning shift for KSAT.