A 44-year-old woman wanted on active drug warrants was found hiding in the attic of a West Side San Antonio home on Tuesday, October 13, her slippers coated in insulation as she climbed down to face deputies. The arrest of April Ortiz Salas in the 6700 block of Monterey Street quickly grew into a much bigger case once investigators started searching the house.
Bexar County Sheriff's deputies executed the warrant and located Salas hiding above the ceiling, according to reporting by the San Antonio Express-News. Salas had been sought on active warrants tied to Penalty Group 1 drug charges before deputies tracked her to the home. Once inside, deputies searching the property discovered suspected crystal methamphetamine stashed inside a clothes dryer, a find that led to enhanced charges against Salas for manufacturing or delivering 400 grams or more of a Penalty Group 1 controlled substance, the newspaper's report notes.
Body-camera footage released by the Bexar County Sheriff's Office captured deputies pointing a weapon toward the ceiling hole as Salas climbed down, clad in pink and purple slippers covered in insulation. A deputy had warned beforehand that she might be armed, referring to two guns “down here,” per the same account.
Two More Arrests at the Scene
Salas wasn't the only person taken into custody during the operation. Deputies also arrested 35-year-old Nicolas V. Campos on a misdemeanor charge of violating a protective order, and 21-year-old Nadia Nicole Ramirez on a third-degree felony charge of hindering apprehension of a known felon, the outlet reported.
Under Texas Penal Code § 38.05, concealing a wanted person with intent to hinder an arrest is normally a Class A misdemeanor, but it escalates to a third-degree felony punishable by 2 to 10 years in prison when the harbored individual is wanted for a felony and the person knew of that status, according to the L&L Law Group's explanation of the statute. Ramirez was charged with hindering apprehension of a known felon.
Steep Penalties Under Texas Drug Law
The quantity of suspected methamphetamine found in the dryer matters significantly under state law. Texas Health and Safety Code § 481.112 sets manufacturing or delivery of 4 to less than 200 grams of a Penalty Group 1 substance as a first-degree felony carrying 5 to 99 years or life in prison, while quantities of 400 grams or more carry a sentencing range of 15 to 99 years or life imprisonment, plus fines up to $250,000, according to the Texas statute itself. Methamphetamine and cocaine both fall within Penalty Group 1 under state law.
As WKRC reported, the Bexar County Sheriff's Office framed the operation on Facebook as its Sheriff's Top Offender Program unit being busy “cleaning up the streets of Bexar County,” adding in the post: “You can run, but you can't hide — not even in the attic!” The agency said the operation ended with a suspect in custody, drugs seized and guns taken off the streets.
A Specialized Unit Built for Fugitive Tracking
The Sheriff's Top Offender Program, known as STOP, is an 18-member team of uniformed and plainclothes personnel created after a September 2024 county budget approval specifically to track down local fugitives not involved in organized crime, according to KENS 5. The unit was stood up alongside 24 new patrol deputy positions meant to assist in increasing county-wide response times. STOP also works with the San Antonio Police Department's Covert Unit.
Arrest Announcement Doubles as Recruitment Pitch
The sheriff's office used its October 14 social media post announcing the attic arrest to also promote an upcoming deputy testing event scheduled for Saturday, October 17, at the TriPoint YMCA. The post paired the arrest announcement with recruitment details for the event.
