A San Antonio man is headed to prison for more than a decade after a late-night West Side crash left a passenger dead and both drivers running from the scene.
Sentence and conviction
According to WOAI, 27-year-old Arthur Ruiz was sentenced Monday to 12 years in state prison after a jury convicted him of intoxication manslaughter with a deadly weapon. Under Texas law, that charge carries a punishment range of two to 20 years, and Ruiz landed toward the upper middle of that window in the Bexar County case tied to the West Side collision.
Crash and investigation
Local coverage from KSAT reports the wreck happened in March 2025 at the intersection of West Travis Street and Northwest 24th Street, when Ruiz ran a stop sign and hit a Nissan Sentra. Passenger Victor Zarate Avila was ejected from the Sentra and pronounced dead at the scene. The Bexar County Medical Examiner later ruled his death an accident.
KSAT also notes that both drivers took off on foot after the impact. Investigators eventually identified the men, and both were charged in connection with the fatal crash.
Toxicology, flight and co-defendant
WOAI reports Ruiz admitted to drinking before the crash and that a blood test showed his blood-alcohol concentration at more than twice the legal limit. The outlet also reports Ruiz ran from the scene but was caught a few blocks away and taken for a medical evaluation.
According to the same report, the Sentra's driver, Juan Escalante Linares, fled as well without stopping to help. Linares later turned himself in and was sentenced last December on a separate count for failing to stop and render aid.
What the charges mean
Intoxication manslaughter is defined in Texas Penal Code §49.08, which treats causing a death while intoxicated as a serious felony. Texas law on hit-and-run offenses, including the duty to stop and render aid, appears in Transportation Code §550.021. A crash that results in death can be prosecuted as a second-degree felony under that statute.
In this case, the prison time handed down reflects both the deadly outcome on West Travis Street and prosecutors' allegations about drunk driving and leaving the scene. Anyone wanting the official paperwork can find the judgment and sentencing records in Bexar County court files.
