A 25-year-old man is facing felony charges after Texas Department of Public Safety troopers say he led them on a pursuit through San Antonio's North Side that ended when his car smashed through a security gate and rolled onto a runway at San Antonio International Airport. The chase began around 1:30 a.m. Saturday near Babcock Road and Interstate 410, when a trooper attempted to stop a 2012 Chrysler passenger car.
According to KENS 5, the driver refused to stop and continued through various parts of San Antonio before the Chrysler crashed through a gate near Jones Maltsberger Road and entered the airfield, according to DPS. The vehicle finally came to rest on the airport runway itself, where troopers took the driver into custody.
The man was arrested on suspicion of evading in a motor vehicle, per the outlet's report. Troopers also say they found a firearm inside the vehicle during the stop, leading to a second arrest on suspicion of unlawfully carrying a weapon.
How a Traffic Stop Became a Felony Case
Under Texas Penal Code Section 38.04, fleeing from a law enforcement officer in a motor vehicle automatically elevates evading arrest from a misdemeanor to a third-degree felony, a charge that carries a possible two to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000, according to FindLaw. Had the man simply run on foot, the same charge would typically remain a misdemeanor; using the Chrysler to flee is what triggered the steeper exposure.
The firearm found inside the car adds a separate legal problem. Texas allows permitless carry for eligible adults, but state law strictly prohibits possessing a handgun while committing a crime beyond a minor traffic offense. Under Penal Code Section 46.02, unlawful carrying of a weapon is generally a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in county jail and a $4,000 fine, per the Austin Hagee Law Firm — but that charge stacks on top of the felony evading count rather than replacing it.
A Restricted Runway, Now a Security Question
The stretch of pavement where the chase ended is not just any patch of asphalt. City of San Antonio Code Chapter 3 designates the entire space inside the airport's perimeter fence as the Air Operations Area, placing it under strict airport security regulations. Breaching that boundary can carry federal consequences separate from any local charges: under 49 U.S.C. § 46314, knowingly entering a restricted airport area in violation of security requirements can bring up to a year in federal prison, rising to as much as 10 years if done with intent to evade security procedures or commit a felony.
San Antonio International Airport spans 2,305 acres on the city's north side and operates three runways handling more than 10 million commercial passengers a year, making any breach of its perimeter a serious operational concern for the region's main air hub. It is not the first time a fleeing vehicle has ended up on airport property here — in August 2021, Castle Hills Police pursued a driver who crashed into the airport's perimeter fence along West Rhapsody Drive, a reminder that the fencing surrounding the airfield has proven vulnerable before.
Several open questions remain unanswered in the wake of Saturday's crash. It's unclear whether federal authorities such as the TSA, FAA, or U.S. Attorney's Office will pursue additional charges tied to the runway breach, what damage the perimeter gate or runway sustained, or whether any flight operations were disrupted during the early-morning incident. It also has not been reported what specific violation initially prompted the trooper to attempt the stop near Babcock Road and Interstate 410.
Part of a Broader Pattern on Texas Roads
The route from Babcock Road to Jones Maltsberger Road covers roughly 8 to 10 miles across San Antonio's North Side, largely tracking the Loop 410 commercial corridor — a long stretch for a pursuit to unfold before ending on airport property. Texas administrative rules require DPS troopers to drive with due regard for public safety during any pursuit, a standard regulators must weigh against the urgency of stopping a fleeing driver.
That balancing act has drawn increased scrutiny statewide. Human Rights Watch reported in February 2025 that high-speed pursuits involving Texas DPS troopers resulted in at least 106 deaths and 301 injuries between 2021 and 2023, underscoring the risks such chases pose even when they end without serious injury, as this one appears to have. Texas airports in particular have seen a string of pursuit-related breaches this year; in April, a fleeing suspect in Houston crashed a vehicle into an exterior terminal building at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, an incident Hoodline covered in its report on a fugitive biker crashing into IAH.
San Antonio itself has seen a run of high-profile DPS pursuits in recent months, including an August crash downtown involving a stolen BMW and a parole warrant, and a January chase that ended in a collision and multiple arrests. No additional details on the identities of either arrested man, formal charges filed, or the condition of the airport gate had been released as of Saturday's report.
