SAN ANTONIO — A man wanted for a murder at an LA Fitness location in north San Antonio is now behind bars.
Authorities arrested 27-year-old Dontre La Ron Nestle Tuesday after a low-speed chase that began in Converse and ended in Kirby.
A Converse police department spokesperson says an officer tried to pull over a driver with faulty brake lights, but that driver refused to stop.
When the officer activated emergency lights, two passengers waved their arms out of the window. Police believed the passengers were trying to tell the officer the driver alone should be held accountable for fleeing, the spokesperson said.
But when the car went off the road in Kirby, all three occupants ran away, he said. Almost immediately, authorities caught and arrested the driver.
Responders from at least three agencies searched for the passengers near Friendship Park. That evening, the spokesperson said, a resident called 911 and told dispatchers she believed someone was in her dog house.
There, police arrested Nestle and the other passenger. Police had been looking for the 27-year-old for years.
Nestle is charged with murdering 24-year-old Orlando Stuart in July 2021.
According to an arrest warrant, Stuart and three friends were standing near the front doors of the gym off Blanco Road on July 16, 2021. Witnesses told police the four men had walked to the front of the gym when a car drove by and started shooting.
Stuart died at the scene. After an autopsy, the Bexar County Medical Examiner reported Stuart died from a “rifle wound.”
Another man was shot but survived.
A witness came forward a month after Stuart's death and told investigators that Nestle shot Stuart in retaliation for another murder, according to police documents.
Nestle also faces charges for a shooting that happened in January at a northside park.
According to the arrest warrant, Nestle was playing basketball at Oak Haven Park just before 10 p.m. A fistfight broke out after the game.
Investigators said when the man disengaged in the fight, Nestle pulled a gun out of his bag and started shooting. He hit a 19-year-old man in the arm, police said.
Nestle is charged with misdemeanor evading arrest for fleeing from police Tuesday. He also faces the murder charge, felony charges for a 2020 burglary, and two felony charges related to a 2017 robbery.