ALPINE — Brewster County Sheriff Ronny Dodson shot a fleeing theft suspect’s rear tire as he fled from deputies through Alpine west on Highway 90 on December 27 before the suspect’s car ran over tire spikes, collided with another vehicle and ultimately came to rest.
Arrested was Justin Gabriel Cristales, 26 of Mississippi, for evading arrest with a motor vehicle, a third-degree felony, according to a probable cause affidavit from the sheriff’s office.
According to the arrest affidavit, Brewster County Deputy Ismael Hernandez was patrolling the intersection of Highways 90 and 67 after receiving information that a suspect had stolen items from the Alon gas station in Marathon and was headed toward Alpine.
“According to the caller, an unknown individual walked out of the store with several items, and stated “I won’t be paying for this s___!” the sheriff’s department wrote on its Facebook page. Hernandez spotted the vehicle around 12:23 p.m. and tried to initiate a stop, but Cristales refused to pull over. “Cristales drove on the incoming lane of travel and placed drivers on the highway in danger,” he wrote in the affidavit. “I called in a pursuit via radio and multiple units joined and assisted with the pursuit.”
Cristales then avoided “stop sticks” placed in his path and intended to deflate his tires three times, Hernandez wrote. “Approximately 4 miles West of Alpine, Sheriff Dodson disabled the rear tire of the vehicle with a well placed round from his 1911 pistol,” the Facebook post stated.
“The vehicle’s tires were deflating, however Cristales kept fleeing, driving his vehicle all over the highway, placing units and other drivers on the road at risk,” the affidavit stated. “Sheriff Ronny Dodson conducted a pit maneuver which resulted in Cristales’s vehicle impacting another vehicle which was traveling Eastbound on U.S 90. After a felony stop where Cristales’s windows had to be shattered due to his non-compliant behavior Cristales was safely placed in custody and was transported to the Brewster County Jail.”
A pit maneuver is a technique used by law enforcement that uses a patrol car to bump into a fleeing vehicle’s back quarter panel causing it to spin out of control and hopefully come to rest. The passengers in the car that Cristale’s vehicle hit after losing control as a result of the pit maneuver were not injured, Hernandez wrote in the affidavit.
Gilda Gonzales, owner of the Alon station in Marathon, said that she was not there when the alleged theft occurred but that her staff reported that an individual not only refused to pay but also laughed as he did it. She said she was unsure what was stolen, but it was something minor.
“If someone needs something, I’m ready to help them,” she said Sunday. “But this person just took it and laughed at us.” Gonzales said that the only reason the crime was even reported was because of the attitude of the man taking the items.
“Cristales was not able to provide me with a clear reason of his purpose in the area,” Hernandez wrote in the affidavit. “Cristales did admit to me to have taken a Gatorade from the Alon gas station.”
Hundreds of commenters on the sheriff department’s Facebook post (and on other pages) lauded the sheriff for his sharpshooting and for the department’s “hard on crime” stance. Some, however, questioned the safety of enjoining in a high-speed chase through the city for a minor theft.
The department’s Facebook post also included a description of the event with numerous hashtags like “#comeonvacation #leaveonprobation #whatwashethinking #thisisTexas,” which drew praise from commenters.
The affidavit stated that Cristales told officers he has post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and significant mental health issues as a result of serving in the military.