SAN ANTONIO – A couple's dispute, which police said led to a major gas leak on the Northwest Side, also made for a rough start to the day Wednesday for some people in the area.
According to a preliminary San Antonio police report, Jonathan Hargrove, 41, had been arguing with a woman and assaulted her at a gas station around 12:30 a.m. in the area of Northwest Military Highway and Huebner Road.
Police said the pair got into separate vehicles and Hargrove rammed the woman's car. One of the vehicles hit an in-ground gas line in the 14500 block of N.W. Military, causing the gas leak.
A CPS Energy crew was still making repairs to the line in the late morning hours.
While the work was going on, a new nearby strip mall was without gas.
"It does heat our hot water. I do have employees that commute. So as they come in here they do expect to take a good hot shower," said Fernando Guajardo, who manages Crossroads Bikes, one of two tenants currently occupying the new shopping center.
Guajardo said he was used to seeing construction crews working at the strip mall, but they recently finished the job. He thought for a second they might have returned.
"All right. No big deal. Maybe they forgot something or whatever," he said. "It's kind of surprising seeing (CPS Energy workers) dig up the nice new grass they just put in."
A worker at the only other business that has opened its doors in the mall, Marco's Pizza, told KSAT 12 News the gas outage was affecting her ability to prepare any food.
Guajardo said until the gas line is repaired and service is restored, he expects business at the restaurant will suffer.
"Can't turn the fryers on. I mean, that's all gas-run. It's a fully gas-run building," he said.
CPS Energy workers at the scene were not able to offer the mall tenants an estimate on when the repairs would be completed.
Police said their investigation is continuing.
Hargrove was arrested on charges of family assault and criminal mischief.
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