Southside mom calls for action after accused drunk driver nearly drives into her home
Angela Gonzalez said street racing, speeding and drunk driving put children and families in danger.
SAN ANTONIO – A local mother is calling for action after a car nearly crashes into her South Side home.
According to San Antonio police, the incident occurred early Tuesday morning off the 300 block of W. Theo Avenue.
That’s when officers said a man accused of drunk driving lost control of his car, hit a tree in front of the house and rolled to a stop outside the house.
Angela Gonzalez lives in the house and said her family woke up to a nightmare.
She said her children heard a crash and a loud sound, and then “got out of a car that overturned in our front yard.”
The car left a trail of destruction that blew his fence and sliced through the front of his home.
“We just put up a new fence, everything we had in the yard, it took everything,” Gonzalez said.
But what infuriates this mother the most is that the driver almost crashed into the house where her children were sleeping.
“The only thing he missed was my daughter’s room, and the only thing that saved him from running into her was that tree in front of us,” Gonzalez said. “If that tree hadn’t been there, he would have run right into my daughter’s room.”
Despite the terrifying realization of what had just happened, Gonzalez said she and her family still jumped in to help the man out of the car.
But when he finally escaped the mangled mess, Gonzalez said she was shocked by his reaction.
“When he came out he was careless. He came out smoking a cigarette,” Gonzalez said.
Then he said the driver tried to drive away.
“But my husband and children held him down until the cops arrived,” she added.
Now Gonzalez is frustrated and fed up. His family moved into the house just three months ago, he said, and since then a similar incident has happened at the house across the street, and a second time at another house a few blocks away.
“A month after we moved, in March, there was another car that went out of control and went into an old lady’s house,” Gonzalez said. “Nothing is being done.”
Gonzalez said she contacted District 5 City Councilwoman Teri Castillo, asking for help.
“I told them, ‘It shouldn’t take another house or a lifetime to do something like speed bumps or something,'” Gonzalez said.
Less than 24 hours after the crash, this family must repair the damage and collect any remaining debris.
As for the driver, SAPD said he was arrested and charged with DWI.
Gonzalez said she will continue to fight for change but is also grateful that her daughter was not hurt.
“It doesn’t matter how old your kids are, they’re your kids, and for a drunk driver, because he’s drunk and out of control,” she said, “I could have lost my daughter and she would never come back.”
“He’s no longer comfortable sleeping in his room… we just moved here so he can feel comfortable,” Gonzalez said.
We contacted Councilor Castillo, who sent us this statement:
“As of this morning, our office has received a call from an area resident regarding this incident and our office is working with public works on potential traffic calming measures to ensure we have infrastructure in place that minimizes minimize these problems in the future”.
The statement also included how to officially file a speed bump claim:
“As a reminder, a slowdown application must be submitted to initiate a slowdown request, and we are happy to provide this at our constituent field offices. Our main constituent line can be reached Monday through Friday from 9:00am to 5:00pm at 210-207-0960.
