BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) said troopers arrested a suspect wanted by multiple law enforcement agencies after he crashed into a school bus on Friday morning.
According to a DPS spokesperson, Brandon Xavior Cortina, 21, was being pursued by officers in Gonzales and Wilson counties when they lost sight of his vehicle.
While it is unclear why he was being pursued, troopers said they received a call about the vehicle, a black Ford Explorer, just before 9:30 a.m., and were able to find the vehicle.
The spokesperson said the suspect vehicle continued to evade troopers before it collided with an East Central Independent School District bus near Loop 410 and Rigsby Avenue.
After the crash, DPS said Cortina fled the vehicle on foot towards the parking lot of a nearby Walmart, where troopers caught up with him and took him into custody.
An East Central ISD spokesperson on scene said there were 23 high school students on the bus in addition to the bus driver and another adult. The students were all in “good spirits” following the crash and are expected to be OK, the district said.
Prior to the pursuit, Cortina had an active warrant out of Victoria County.
He will be booked into the Bexar County Adult Detention Center on the following charges, according to DPS: evading arrest with a motor vehicle, failure to stop and give information and “multiple” aggravated assault charges for each person on the school bus.
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