SAN ANTONIO — Crime victims taking the law into their own hands, dog attacks that spurred change and one very large weapon confiscated at the airport: The past 12 months in San Antonio news were defined by headlines about public safety which got the community talking, clicking and sharing.
Not all of it involved the threat of violence or danger. Also among the most-clicked stories on KENS5.com was news about a local singer impressing judges on a popular competition show, a restaurant's booming business in a time when eateries struggled and our guide to a historic celestial event for which South Texas had front-row seats. It's enough to make you forget that the city was still several months away from welcoming its newest celebrity this time last year.
Read on for more on the most memorable San Antonio headlines from 2023, culminating in 10 of KENS5.com's most-visited stories.
A new crime trend: jugging
While car theft was one of the most consistent crime-related news topics of 2023, another involved would-be criminals keeping close tabs on their victims and pouncing at the worst time.
In November KENS 5 talked to Johnny Arredondo, one of many victims of jugging who was targeted after stopping at a bank or ATM to get cash. While Arredondo wasn't directly confronted, police say many jugging victims are held up at gunpoint after criminals stalk them from stores or banks.
DNA connects skull to long-missing woman
More than six years after a woman with Alzheimer's disappeared at the Poteet Flea Market while shopping, a skull found in the area was confirmed to belong to her. The discovery was made by forensic investigators at the University of North Texas, and prompted more questions than answers for Maria Llamas' loved ones.
Texas to local leaders: No more COVID mandates
As the number of COVID-19 cases were ticking up throughout the state near the end of the summer, Texas leaders sent a message to city officials: COVID-related masks, vaccines and business shutdowns are now prohibited. The directive was backed up by a new law that went into effect on Sept. 1, and while the summer uptick proved to be just that – an uptick rather than a dangerous surge – the law reflected the pandemic-era tug-of-war between local and state government over what cities can and can't require during a public health emergency.
Woman says driver pointed a gun at her vehicle with son inside
Road rage was up across the country this year, and few states had it as bad as Texas in 2023.
In May a mother was driving her 13-year-old son to school when she found herself in the middle of the dangerous trend, telling KENS 5 a man who was tailgating her eventually made his way alongside her vehicle before pointing a firearm at her and her son.
Bexar County authorities investigated the incident, saying the male driver denied the accusations. The mother, Natalie Martinez, said others shared about their own alleged experiences involving the same driver.
Major gun battle at northwest-side apartment complex
Dozens and dozens of rounds – more than 75, to be exact – were fired when police say a group of people arrived at the Pearl Park Apartments and started exchanging gunfire with residents inside. "Numerous bullet holes" were found along the outside of the second-floor apartment and some blood was discovered in the entrance before police found an 18-year-old victim and suspect.
A very (very) large gun is found in checked luggage
TSA agents returned home from San Antonio International Airport on Jan. 16 with an eccentric story for their loved ones: The discovery of what appeared to be a Carl Gustaf 84mm anti-tank weapon inside a piece of checked luggage. It's legal for unloaded guns to travel through airports in the proper container, but TSA officials initially said the weapon wasn't declared, prompting agents to confiscate it.
The agency later backtracked on the social media post, saying the passenger did declare the item, but TSA wasn't informed.
Deadly Fourth of July crash sparks legal questions
The July Fourth holiday brought tragedy to a San Antonio family when a 5-year-old was killed after he was thrown from a car authorities say he wasn't properly restrained in.
What came next, however, was a debate over who was at fault. The 22-year-old driver hit the brakes suddenly, police said, causing another driver to hit her car from behind. But her attorney defended her, saying that while criminal culpability could fall on any of several parties, he believed the force of the crash was so great that the child wouldn't have survived even with a car seat.
The driver, Doan Mai, faces a charge of manslaughter and was released from jail on bond in July. Online court records indicate the Bexar County district attorney's office is still reviewing the case.
One-day-old abandoned outside SA church
Police in August asked for the public's help in identifying the suspects who left a newborn by the back door of Grissom Road Church of Christ.
The baby was found in a basket on a day when the high was 110 degrees, and has since been placed in a foster home. But the search for the two people who left him there remains ongoing.
Three SAPD officers charged in killing of woman
In perhaps the most high-profile law enforcement story of the year, three San Antonio police officers were fired and eventually indicted after killing a 46-year-old woman believed to have been suffering a mental health crisis at the time.
The suspects – two of them officers with SAPD, and the third a sergeant – responded to Melissa Perez's home after she reportedly tinkered with her fire alarm. The officers later shot her dead in a use of force that SAPD Chief William McManus said was "not consistent with SAPD evidence and training."
A grand jury indicted two of the now-fired officers on first-degree murder charges and the third on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
SA speaks out after her son is found tortured and murdered
Investigators in January scoured a home off Montgomery Drive and Gibbs Sprawl Road where they say a 31-year-old man was tied up, tortured, shot and killed two months prior.
Police connected several people to the gruesome incident, and KENS 5 talked to the victim's mother, Stephanie Pacheco, who said her son didn't deserve what happened to him "regardless of whatever my son did."
San Antonio rapper killed in North Star Mall shooting
The family of 32-year-old Adam Glass experienced tragedy in June when he was shot and killed at North Star Mall while getting his hair cut, an incident that sent shoppers scurrying and hiding in stores. Police said the attack was targeted, and family remembered Glass as a "kind and loving soul."
Teller foils phone scam targeting customer
A scam-in-progress was foiled at a San Antonio credit union in March when police responded to what they initially thought was a robbery, according to officials.
Instead, authorities said, a woman came to withdraw money from Randolph Brooks Federal Credit Union after a caller tricked her into thinking her 18-year-old daughter had been kidnapped. The teller, however, realized something was unusual about the encounter and instead called police.
Mom pushes for answers after teens found dead in motel
A San Antonio woman said she saw "blood everywhere" in the northeast-side motel room where her son and his girlfriend – both just 19 – were found dead by a housekeeper in January. About a month after she spoke with KENS 5, police arrested a 19-year-old suspect in the murders; court records indicate his trial is set to begin Jan. 17.
Chowing down on Barbed Wire's burgers
A KENS 5 viewer reached out about a small-town restaurant's reputation for mouth-watering patty melts. We went to try it for ourselves... and found out the secret about why they're so good.
These criminals used what to steal a car?
USB cords are probably the last thing you'd guess could be used to take off with someone's car. But that's what happened to a San Antonio mother – twice – after a viral TikTok trend showed just how easy it is with newer vehicles.
The trend resulted in new software upgrades for millions of Hyundai drivers to make their cars harder to steal.
Mysterious creature baffles Hill Country Village residents
Is it a coyote? A dog? A chupacabra?
Whatever the case, this long-tailed, big-eared, fairly large creature sparked a mystery for residents at a north-side neighborhood and even stumped experts.
What's that in the sky?
San Antonians didn't just spot weird sights on the ground; they also saw them in the sky. In the first days of 2023, the community was abuzz with debate over an object causing a red glow in the sky over the Alamo City and Hondo. The theories multiplied from there.
Video shows gun-wielding man trying to access home with children inside
A San Antonio family was traumatized after an armed man with a violent criminal history tried to enter their far-north-side home in September. Arrest warrants show Christopher Rodriguez, 34, also threatened his parents at gunpoint that same day.
The 34-year-old had a history with law enforcement going back years, and county commissioners said it was an indication that "the system is broken" in regards to criminal justice infrastructure.
San Antonio singer makes an impression on 'The Voice'
Rudi Gutierrez, 28, impressed the judges of the popular musical competition show with her updated rendition of Leslie Grove's "You Don't Own Me," earning a rare four-chair turn before she ultimately went with Gwen Stefani.
A very expensive Panda Express trip
A spokesperson for the popular fast-food chain investigated after a San Antonio woman ended up with hundreds of dollars in charges from the restaurant on her bank account, despite buying a meal that cost just $16.42.
---Below are the 10 most-read stories on KENS5.com from 2023
Elderly man killed in 'horrific' dog attack
A higher rate of dangerous dog attacks constituted one of San Antonio's biggest ongoing stories of the year, resulting in the city approving more money for Animal Care Services to tackle the issue.
The debate started in February, when an elderly couple was visiting relatives on the west side when two American Staffordshire escaped their yard and attacked them. Firefighters eventually arrived, using pike poles and pick axes to fight them off.
The man was killed, his wife briefly hospitalized and the dogs eventually put down.
Former Alamo Heights athlete paralyzed with rare disorder
“I had everything going for me and then within two days it was just taken away," said Angel Anthony Cortez, a Texas State student who was just diagnosed with a rare disorder.
The 23-year-old was intubated for weeks before talking to KENS 5 about his frightening experience in February. What started as a tingling sensation in his hands and feet turned out to be a disorder in which the body's immune system attacks the nerves.
A Mexican restaurant so popular it's expanded to 15 locations
If you're craving carne guisada, chilaquiles or molcajete with sizzling fajitas, there's a restaurant in San Antonio that you can add to your must-visit list. Lucky for the city's foodies, more than a dozen locations have opened up ever since the original spot's debut in 1997.
Taking the law into his own hands
Police flocked to South Park Mall on July 27, where shots rang out in the parking lot. Officials later said the exchange of gunfire was between a suspected thief and the owner of a truck police say he stole.
The suspected thief died, and the woman he was with was injured. The incident sparked conversation over whether the actions of the truck's owner, who never called police before tracking down his car himself, were justified.
Security guard seen slamming woman to the pavement in viral video
Questions were raised after a private security officer bodyslammed a woman to the ground during a violent brawl outside a San Antonio nightclub that was documented on video.
That video went viral, racking up several million views on Twitter in just a matter of days as users chimed in on footage of the chaos that unfolded. The security company told KENS 5 two of its officers were trying to stop six fights outside Privat Social Club, located in the UTSA area, after it closed on a Saturday night.
A historic astronomical event
In October, thousands of South Texans gathered and eclipse enthusiasts arrived to watch an astonishing annular eclipse for which our region provided the best view.
Even more are expected to come in April, when our area will once again be the best place to watch a total solar eclipse—the last one visible in the contiguous U.S. until 2044.
Tragedy at the San Antonio airport
What initially appeared to be a freak accident was eventually ruled a suicide after a 27-year-old member of the airport's ground crew, David Renner, was "ingested" into the engine of a Delta plane. The flight had just arrived from Los Angeles.
The incident sparked an investigation led by the National Transportation Safety Board, and a passenger on the plane later filed a lawsuit against the company that employed Renner for PTSD.
'Like a Hallmark movie'
Few cities in South Texas ring their jingle bells as hard and put on a face as merry as Boerne, which again welcomed tens of thousands of visitors this holiday season. City officials take pride in their Christmas glow-up, calling it an annual "spectacle" 23 years running.
An update on a crime trend
Criminals began targeting unsuspecting victims with more authentic-looking credit card skimmers replacing the legitimate card receivers at gas pumps. Hollywood Park authorities found the new skimmers earlier this year, saying they were new to Texas and recommending drivers to use gas pumps closer to the store or which have video surveillance installed.
A pregnant teen and her boyfriend are killed, and a search for answers begins
The holiday season brought confusion and heartbreak for two San Antonio families after a pregnant woman and her boyfriend were found dead a few days after going missing.
Savanah Soto and Matthew Guerra were found dead with gunshot wounds in a locked car the day after Christmas. Police say they were murdered, and released footage of two unidentified persons of interest they are seeking as the families plan funeral services.
