By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Three Del Rioans were arrested and charged with a variety of felony and misdemeanor offenses following a pursuit through a portion of the city’s south side, police said.
Justin Damian Gonzalez, 22, 308 San Felipe Ave., was arrested and charged with the offenses of evading arrest/detention with a motor vehicle and of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, both third-degree felonies, according to an arrest reported released recently by the Del Rio Police Department.
Two of Gonzalez’s companions were also arrested.
Mayra Alejandra Castillo, 26, 201 Rowland Drive, was arrested and charged with the offense of possession of a controlled substance, Penalty Group 1/1B, less than one gram, a state jail felony, and Juan Jose Veliz Jr., 25, 510 Ave. U, Apt. 4, was arrested and charged with the offenses of unlawfully carrying a weapon and evading arrest/detention, both Class A misdemeanors, their arrest reports show.
In an affidavit filed in the case, DRPD Cpl. Estevan Hernandez said police officers were dispatched to 700 S. Main St. at 2:13 a.m. on Sept. 4 after police received a report about a fight in progress.
“Officers were advised a male subject in a black shirt and blue jeans displayed a handgun. While en route, officers were advised subjects departed eastbound on Canal Street,” Hernandez wrote.
Hernandez reported when he arrived in the area, he was waved down in the 100 block of North Main Street, and the persons who waved him down told him they knew the man in the black shirt was nicknamed “JJ.” Hernandez wrote he knew from previous encounters that Veliz was nicknamed “JJ.”
Hernandez said he was also advised that the persons involved in the fight were now outside Gorzugis, 321 S. Main St. and was told another one of the men involved was wearing a black shirt and white pants.
“Upon arrival, (I) observed Veliz in black shirt and blue jeans and Gonzalez in black shirt and white jeans standing outside a brown Cadillac SUV. (I) activated my emergency lights to signal the subjects were being stopped and were not free to leave. (I) observed Veliz and Gonzalez disregard and enter the Cadillac. (I) gave verbal commands from (my) marked unit due to the nature of the call for service involving a firearm,” Hernandez wrote.
The officer reported Veliz and Gonzalez failed to comply with his commands and began driving the Cadillac south on South Main with Gonzalez driving.
“Gonzalez attempted to bail out on foot three times before he finally jumped out of the slow rolling Cadillac in the 100 block of Figueroa Street. Gonzalez evaded for approximately 10 blocks from South Main to the rear of the San Jose Projects. Gonzalez proceeded to evade on foot westbound through the San Jose Projects until he was finally captured and placed under arrest,” Hernandez wrote.
Hernandez wrote other officers conducted a felony stop on the Cadillac and found Veliz in the back left seat and Castillo in the front passenger seat.
“As officers inventoried the Cadillac, they located a white powdery substance underneath Castillo’s seat. Officers located two handguns in the back right floorboard. One was a Stoeger .40-caliber with an extended magazine, and the other was a Smith & Wesson 9mm with a round chambered. The handguns were within the reachable area of both Veliz and Gonzalez,” Hernandez wrote.
Hernandez noted Gonzalez has a prior felony conviction for the offense of family violence impeding breath in 2018, thus allowing him to arrest Gonzalez for the offense of possession of a firearm by a felon.
“Veliz having completed the act greater than a Class C (misdemeanor) placed him in violation of unlawfully carrying a weapon. The white powdery substance located underneath Castillo was field tested and yielded positive results for cocaine. The cocaine weighed 0.4 grams,” Hernandez wrote.
Bonds totaling $100,000 were set in the cases against Gonzalez. A bond of $5,000 was set in the case against Castillo. Bond totaling $4,000 were set in the cases against Veliz. Justice of the Peace Pct. 1 Jesse James Treviño set all bonds.
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