A Poteet man was taken into custody Wednesday after police say he made repeated threats to kill people living in his neighborhood, capping off a search that ended in a patch of brush behind an empty lot on Avenue H. Officers say Preston Alaniz tried to avoid arrest by cutting through yards and staying off main streets, but neighbors kept tabs on his movements and phoned in updates until police caught up with him.
According to the KABB Fox San Antonio report, Alaniz was arrested Wednesday after allegedly making additional threats against people living in his neighborhood, according to the Poteet Police Department. Residents who spotted him called officers and provided updates on his location as he moved through the area, and he was ultimately taken into custody without further incident in the brush behind the empty lot.
A Street With a Troubled History
The stretch of Avenue H where Alaniz was found is not unfamiliar to serious violence. In August 2020, 41-year-old John Martin Alaniz was shot multiple times and killed at 150 Avenue H, a case previously reported by KENS 5. That earlier shooting adds grim context to a street that has now seen two significant law enforcement responses in six years, even in a town where violent crime is otherwise rare.
Poteet is a small city of roughly 2,795 residents, covering just 1.7 square miles about 30 miles south of downtown San Antonio, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Crime data compiled by OpenCrime shows the city recorded a violent crime rate of just 32.7 per 100,000 residents in 2024, with only a single violent crime logged that year — down from nine in 2022. In a community that size, a neighborhood manhunt through backyards is the kind of event that gets noticed fast.
A Record of Prior Violent Allegations
Court dockets from the 81st and 218th Judicial District Courts show Alaniz, born November 28, 1988, has a prior criminal record in Atascosa County. That history includes 2023 court settings for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, assault on a public servant, and assault on a family or household member with a previous conviction. That record helps explain why officers and neighbors treated the threats against people in his neighborhood as urgent enough to require an immediate response.
It remains unclear what formal charges were filed against Alaniz at booking, what bond amount was set, or whether any weapons were recovered from the brush where he was found. His current custody status at the Atascosa County Jail has also not been confirmed.
What Texas Law Says About Terroristic Threats
Under Texas Penal Code § 22.07, making a terroristic threat with intent to place someone in fear of imminent serious bodily injury is generally charged as a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to 180 days in jail and fines of up to $2,000, according to Thornton Criminal Defense. But the charge can escalate. Texas law bumps a terroristic threat up to a Class A misdemeanor if it's made against a family or household member, and as high as a third-degree felony — carrying two to 10 years in prison — if the threat targets a public servant or is intended to cause public alarm, per the Sloane Law Firm.
Which category applies to Alaniz's case, if any formal charge is filed, has not yet been determined. Felony prosecutions arising from Atascosa County arrests fall under the 81st and 218th Judicial District Courts, a five-county rural district overseen by District Attorney Audrey Gossett Louis. That same office secured a life sentence without parole in June against a Jourdanton man convicted of murder, a case Hoodline previously covered, underscoring the district's recent focus on violent-crime prosecutions.
Small-Town Policing, County-Wide Backup
Local law enforcement agencies in Atascosa County, including the Poteet Police Department, frequently lean on the Atascosa County Sheriff's Office and Texas Rangers for multi-agency manhunts and high-risk arrests, a pattern previously documented by KENS 5. The Poteet Police Department itself operates under regular oversight from the city council, per official minutes from the City of Poteet, keeping the small department's operations tied to municipal public safety ordinances even as it handles cases that draw in county and state resources.
