BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – San Antonio police officers arrested a man in connection with a Bexar County Sheriff’s Office investigation into an unlicensed car dealership on the East Side.
According to Bexar County jail records, SAPD took Modesto Steven Salazar, 50, into custody just before 11 p.m. Saturday.
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In all, Bexar County court records indicate Salazar is facing 20 charges: 10 tampering with government paperwork counts, and 10 counts of providing false information on vehicle registration paperwork. All charges are considered third-degree felonies.
Court records also show all 20 charges occurred between Nov. 22, 2025, and Jan. 31, 2026.
According to two arrest affidavits obtained by KSAT on Monday, BCSO and Texas Department of Motor Vehicle investigators conducted a “salvage vehicle inspection” on Feb. 24 at a car lot located at 1523 Nolan St.
Investigators said they had documentation which showed a business — 210 Mission Auto, LLC — has a valid dealer’s license. However, according to the affidavits, the dealer’s license location is not 1523 Nolan St. — it’s listed at a different address.
Salazar told investigators over the phone he had to “close” the other location and “needed a place to store his vehicles,” so he decided to move the vehicles to 1523 Nolan St. to “keep his business afloat.”
According to Salazar, an “unknown individual” gave him permission via email to sell vehicles from 1523 Nolan St. However, investigators said Salazar did not provide them the individual’s name or a copy of the email.
The affidavits detail two instances — one on Nov. 22, 2025, and another on Dec. 31, 2025 — Salazar conducted vehicle sales. In both instances, investigators said Salazar listed his name as “Steve Salavar” as the vehicle seller and also changed his mailing address on the vehicle title applications to 1523 Nolan St.
When asked why he listed his name as “Steve Salavar,” Salazar told investigators it “must have been a mistake,” according to the affidavits.
Salazar, who is currently awaiting indictment on the charges, bonded out of the Bexar County Adult Detention Center just before 1:30 p.m. Sunday, jail records show.
During a Feb. 24 news conference, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said eight vehicles were seized from the illegal dealership.
Investigators said they conducted online research and noticed a pattern of a dealership selling several vehicles, including a high-performance sports car, at the location.
“The common denominator on all these vehicles is that they were sold at very cheap prices, too hard to pass up prices,” the sheriff said on Feb. 24. “So they (investigators) became suspicious.”
At this time, Modesto Salazar is the only arrest connected to the case, a BCSO spokesperson told KSAT on Monday afternoon.
More coverage of this story on KSAT: