SAN ANTONIO – A motorcycle described as “distinctive” turned out to be one big clue when it came to tracking down a suspect who allegedly rammed a Bexar County sheriff’s deputy’s car during a high-speed chase last week.
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar announced the arrest of Cyrus Eckman, 26, in a news conference Tuesday morning.
The sheriff said Eckman is the motorcyclist his investigators had been searching for since last Thursday.
Eckman is accused of physically interfering during a pursuit of a speeding driver by swerving in front of the deputy’s car with his motorcycle.
At one point, he used the motorcycle to ram the deputy’s car, tearing a hole in the side of the vehicle, Salazar said.
“That’s done with a foot peg that the suspect’s foot was on at the time of the ramming,” the sheriff said, showing the damage in a photo he displayed.
Salazar said the driver of the car that the deputy was pursuing was a friend of Eckman.
He said the two had met for the first time a few hours earlier at a bar where they drank alcohol and watched soccer.
The deputy noticed the pair shortly after midnight, racing on Loop 410 near Interstate 10, and tried to conduct a traffic stop.
“He makes the decision to catch up to the car, being that he believes the motorcycle’s most likely going to flee,” Salazar said, narrating what is shown in dashcam video.
After the ramming, Salazar said, the deputy called off the chase.
The motorcyclist and driver of the car both sped away.
However, Salazar said investigators were able to develop some clues leading them to Eckman, including information about the “distinctive” motorcycle involved in the incident.
“I believe there’s only been 12 of those sold recently from BMW, and he has a very distinctive helmet,” he said.
The sheriff said detectives also identified Eckman based on information obtained from the driver of the car he was racing.
He said they caught up with that car driver when he got involved in a crash shortly after leaving the scene of the chase.
Eckman was arrested at his home in Cibolo Tuesday morning.
“He placed himself and the deputy in danger,” Salazar said. “This is just clearly somebody that’s got no regard for the safety of anybody in the community, and so we’re super happy to make this arrest.”
Eckman faces a long list of criminal charges, including aggravated assault on a peace officer and evading arrest.
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