A late-afternoon chase on San Antonio's North Side ended with crumpled metal and one man in handcuffs after a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper tried to pull over a blue Dodge Charger on Tuesday.
Officials say 35-year-old Dylan Mendez led a trooper on a brief pursuit that wrapped up near Loop 410 and Waters Edge Road at about 1:35 p.m., when he lost control of the Charger on the eastbound frontage road. The car hit a DPS patrol unit, slammed into another vehicle, then struck a concrete barrier before coming to a stop. The driver of the other vehicle, a 64-year-old woman, was not injured, according to authorities.
According to the Department of Public Safety, as reported by News4SanAntonio, the trooper had first attempted a traffic stop before Mendez allegedly took off. After the collisions, troopers took Mendez into custody at the scene and discovered he had two outstanding warrants, DPS said. He is expected to face charges of evading with a motor vehicle and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. Investigators have not yet released additional details about the firearm allegation while the case remains under review.
Charges and legal context
Unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon is defined under Texas Penal Code Section 46.04 and, in many situations, can be prosecuted as a felony that carries the potential for years in prison if there is a conviction. The statute is published online by Justia. Evading with a motor vehicle can also rise to the level of a felony, depending on whether there are injuries or significant property damage, and prosecutors typically review crash reports and trooper statements before locking in final charges. Defense attorneys note that these kinds of cases often turn on whether investigators can prove knowing possession of a firearm and reconstruct the precise sequence of events during the attempted stop.
How this fits locally
The crash is the latest in a series of DPS-involved pursuits that have ended on Loop 410 in recent years, occasionally leading to hospitalizations and long traffic shutdowns. Prior KSAT coverage of a June 2025 chase showed how a last-second attempt to exit the highway can quickly spiral into a multi-vehicle pileup involving troopers and unsuspecting drivers. Those kinds of scenes are a big reason traffic safety advocates and law enforcement officials periodically reexamine pursuit policies, trying to balance catching suspects against the risks of high-speed encounters on busy frontage roads.
DPS said Mendez remained in custody Tuesday afternoon while investigators complete their reports and prosecutors decide on final charges, according to News4SanAntonio. Anyone with information about the incident is urged to contact the department as the investigation continues.
