SAN ANTONIO – Three San Antonio teenagers, who were initially arrested in connection with a May 18 aggravated robbery case, were officially indicted Thursday on a similar crime they were accused of committing two weeks earlier.
Authorities said both incidents happened 14 days apart — on May 4 and May 18 — at the same Circle K convenience store in the 9800 block of Potranco Road, near Stevens High School. Each alleged robbery also had separate teenage victims who happened to be Stevens High School students.
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Arrest warrants previously obtained by KSAT identified the following three suspects tied to both alleged crimes:
- Amir Notario, 17
- Omar Timothy John Saenz, 18
- Damian Zertuche, 18
The May 4 incident
Two weeks before their May 18 arrests, a police report and arrest warrant obtained by KSAT show Notario, Saenz and Zertuche may have been involved with a separate aggravated robbery case.
In the initial police report, the San Antonio Police Department said a 17-year-old Stevens High School student went off campus during his lunch break and walked to the Circle K to get snacks.
Around 12:45 p.m., the 17-year-old student was approached by the three suspects. The victim told investigators that he used to consider Zertuche a “close friend.”
According to the student, Zertuche “had a firearm in his right hand” and was “pointing it towards the ground.”
“I’ma need your bag,” Zertuche allegedly told the victim. “Give me everything.”
“Just leave me alone,” the victim told Zertuche, the report states.
According to the warrant, Saenz struck the student in the face with a pistol. The victim told police that Zertuche and Saenz began going through his backpack. The student said Zertuche and Saenz “stole his gold chain, ring, sunglasses, phone charger and wallet” while Notario served as the suspects’ eyes and ears.
When people approached the store, Notario notified Saenz and Zertuche. All three then fled the scene on foot, investigators said.
The student went back to school before heading home and reporting the incident to police, the warrant states.
Court records show Saenz and Zertuche were indicted Thursday on the same three charges: two counts of aggravated robbery (first-degree felony) and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (second-degree felony).
Notario was only indicted on two aggravated robbery charges. On July 15, records show a judge agreed to reduce Notario’s bond and subsequently placed him on house arrest.
Additionally, all three suspects each face engaging in organized criminal activity charges, which is also considered a first-degree felony.
In a Friday statement to KSAT, the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office said the teenage suspects are awaiting an indictment on that charge.
The May 18 incident
Two weeks later, San Antonio police officers were dispatched just after 3:30 p.m. to the same Circle K location.
A Northside Independent School District spokesperson told KSAT at the time that a Stevens High School student was the victim of the off-campus assault.
According to a police report obtained by KSAT, the 18-year-old student was on his way back to campus when Notario, Saenz and Zertuche — who are former Stevens High School students — confronted him.
“What’s up? You’re talking s---?” Notario told the student, according to the report.
The student told police he saw one of the three suspects “pull a gun from his waistband and display it.”
“Give me everything you got,” Notario told the victim.
“I don’t have anything on me,” the student told Notario, according to SAPD.
The student told investigators one of the suspects then pistol-whipped him in the face. At some point, police said the suspects stopped the alleged assault and walked away from the student “for some unknown reason.”
According to the report, the victim gathered himself and began walking back to campus. Moments later, a friend of the victim saw him, helped him talk to school staff and call SAPD.
Investigators saw the victim’s nose was swollen “a little,” had a tissue inside a nostril due to “bleeding” and had a swollen lip following the alleged attack.
SAPD, with the assistance of Northside ISD police officers and the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), tracked down Notario, Saenz and Zertuche at a nearby apartment complex and took them into custody.
According to court records, separate grand juries indicted Notario and Saenz June 30 on two aggravated robbery counts and an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge in connection with the incident.
As of Friday, the DA’s office said Zertuche is only facing one count of aggravated robbery. He has yet to be indicted on the charge, according to a DA’s office spokesperson.
Another suspect’s mall robbery indictments
Like Notario and Saenz, Zertuche was also indicted June 30 on an aggravated robbery charge. However, according to court documents, Zertuche’s indictment was connected to one of two robberies a day before his May 18 arrest.
SAPD detectives said the alleged May 17 robberies happened at two popular San Antonio malls: Ingram Park Mall and North Star Mall.
In the first May 17 incident, San Antonio police said officers were dispatched just after 4:30 p.m. to Ingram Park Mall on a robbery-in-progress call. The victim, a 16-year-old boy, told officers that a male — later identified as Zertuche — “snatched chains” from around his neck and “pointed a gun at him,” according to an arrest warrant obtained by KSAT.
The victim called SAPD after Zertuche fled on foot, police said.
According to an SAPD affidavit that detailed the second alleged May 17 robbery, Zertuche approached a 17-year-old boy shopping at North Star Mall and “forcefully removed” a necklace the victim wore. A police report indicates an officer was dispatched just after 5 p.m. to the mall’s Apple Store.
Officers said Zertuche also “assaulted” the 17-year-old, brandished a firearm and later fled the scene.
After his arrest in connection with the May 18 robbery, documents show Zertuche confessed to committing the North Star Mall robbery to investigators. On May 19, the North Star Mall victim identified Zertuche to police in a photo lineup.
On June 30, records show a Bexar County grand jury indicted Zertuche in connection with the North Star Mall robbery charge.
Zertuche was later identified as the suspect connected to the Ingram Park Mall incident by the victim and a witness on May 20, records indicate.
According to records, Zertuche was indicted Tuesday afternoon on the following three charges connected to the Ingram Park Mall robbery:
- Aggravated robbery
- Robbery (second-degree felony)
- Theft from a person (state jail felony)
Zertuche’s combined bond for all nine charges across the May 4, May 17 and May 18 alleged incidents was set at $625,000, documents show.
Back to the courtroom
Eight days after their newest indictments, Notario and Saenz are set to make court appearances next week on their arrests and charges stemming from the May 18 incident.
Bexar County records indicate the two will both appear before Judge Kristina Escalona Aug. 21 inside the county’s 186th Criminal District Court.
While he is not scheduled to appear in a courtroom this month, documents show Zertuche’s next court appearance in connection with the North Star Mall robbery is set for Sept. 14.
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