SAN ANTONIO – Investigators arrested a San Antonio man they believe is responsible for shooting a pellet gun at a Northwest Side real estate firm on five different occasions.
San Antonio police booked John Micheal Gonzalez, 39, into the Bexar County Adult Detention Center just after midnight Thursday on five criminal mischief charges at a combined $25,000 bond, online records show.
Recommended Videos
The charges, which estimates damage between $2,500 and $30,000 apiece, are considered state jail felonies.
Caught on camera
According to an arrest affidavit obtained by KSAT, Gonzalez allegedly began the barrage on April 17.
A male employee at the real estate company, located along the Interstate 10 eastbound access road and Medical Drive, told police that “someone had shot out” the firm’s windows. The employee looked at the company’s surveillance footage, which revealed “what appeared to be a firearm barrel” sticking out of the passenger’s side window of a red Ford Expedition, police said.
Moments later, the real estate business’ windows were “shot out and damaged,” investigators said.
Detectives believe Gonzalez “shot out and damaged” the company’s windows on four additional occasions: April 20, April 30, May 6 and May 12, court records indicate.
In the May 6 incident, an employee at the real estate firm alleged that the building’s windows were shot out again. The employee arrived for work on the morning of May 7 and found shattered glass before calling police.
Another review of security footage revealed a red Ford Expedition appeared on camera between “10:30 p.m. and 11:59 p.m.” on May 6, the affidavit states.
During the May 12 incident, an employee told the San Antonio Police Department that the company’s windows were shot out at approximately 10:30 p.m. The employee, who told officers they witnessed the shooting, said a red Ford Expedition drove up to the business, rolled “down the driver’s side window” and began firing at the building’s windows.
Tracking the suspect down
After one of the shootings, the employee told officers that they decided to take matters into their own hands.
According to the affidavit, the employee followed the red Ford Expedition into the parking lot of the Sumo Japanese Steakhouse, which is located in the 8300 block of the Interstate 10 eastbound access road near Fountainhead Drive.
The male employee told detectives he saw the suspected shooter get out of the vehicle in “a work uniform from the steakhouse,” wrote down the Ford Expedition’s license plate and gathered “a description of the driver.”
The employee provided police with video from each shooting, the description of the suspect and his vehicle, the affidavit states.
After reviewing the information, investigators were able to identify a possible suspect, which the employee later picked out of a photo lineup, SAPD said.
The suspect, later identified as Gonzalez, was arrested at the Sumo Japanese Steakhouse after a search warrant was granted, according to police.
Officers recovered the following items from Gonzalez’s vehicle, the affidavit states:
- An AR-style pellet gun
- A rifle pellet gun
- Three pistol-style pellet guns
- 22 carbon dioxide cartridges
- Three pellet containers
- A BB container
Gonzalez talks to police
In an interview with officers, Gonzalez said what caused the shootings was his pellet gun accidentally discharging as he “cleared” it while “driving in front of the (real estate) building,” court documents show.
Gonzalez admitted to investigators that the guns and the pellets found in the Ford Expedition belonged to him.
In all, the employee said damage to the building cost the firm north of $40,000.
Jail records show Gonzalez was released on bond around 9 a.m. Friday. His next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 18.
More crime coverage on KSAT: