SAN ANTONIO — Thieves stole a locked truck from a north side apartment complex.
The truck’s owners, Gary and Kyiah Mansfield, say they watched it happen and swiftly took action. The young couple shared with KENS 5 how they managed to get their car back within 15 minutes.
This all happened last Friday around 5 a.m. at the Charleston apartment complex off Blanco near Bitters. The Mansfields say they woke up to a familiar sound.
"I heard my truck start. He was in bed, I was in the room, so I was like, ‘Who started the truck?’ I look outside and I just see it driving off,” said Kyiah.
The couple ran out, hopped in their other car, and drove out of the complex on Blanco Road toward 1604.
“I took a chance and turned left and we happened to see them just off Blanco road. They were at a red light,” said Gary.
Kyiah was on the phone with 911, telling them their every move as they trailed closely behind their stolen truck.
“They ended up taking a right turn into a neighborhood,” Gary recalled. “After that point, they kept going on Blanco just a little bit more and turned left between the Pizza Hut and that house. They got out and just left it in drive."
They watched in panic as their truck ran into the corner of a home off W. Blanco behind Longhorn Cafe. Gary said the truck hit a water pipe, causing it to burst. When KENS 5 went to the scene Thursday, a bucket was covering the water line and the corner damaged by the truck was boarded up.
The two suspects are described as two young Hispanic men wearing all black. Gary and Kyiah recall seeing reflective stripes on the sleeves of one of the men. Both suspects took off on foot and haven’t been captured.
“We moved out here to get away from the violence. A lot of people say they can't get out of it. There is always a way to get out of your current situation. You just gotta work hard,” said Gary, who moved to San Antonio from Kansas City, KS.
The couple's truck didn't have too much damage. The Mansfields just started their own vehicle vinyl wrap business, Trinity Customs Auto, and were able to quickly fix the ignition and install a new alarm themselves. They spent around $300.
“It will tell me on my app if my truck's running, GPS tracking...and it has a really sensitive alarm too,” said Gary. "The F-250's of my year they're pretty common of just jamming through the door handle and pulling the rods to open up...They broke my ignition -- just totally annihilated it to get it started."
Longhorn Cafe is reviewing their cameras to see if they caught the suspects running away.
The couple said a neighbor may also have the suspects on-camera. Administration at the Charleston apartment complex sent a letter to tenants earlier this week addressing the situation.
"I would like to see more apartment complexes have cameras. That's a huge one," said Gary.
Following the incident, Gary posted about it on Nextdoor, alerting neighbors that the suspects are still on the loose. He said the response was overwhelming.
"It helped a lot because I could see that the people who live in San Antonio are very helpful and they stick together. That's what I've always heard about Texas," said Gary. "They were like, 'A few years ago the city wasn't like this.'"
SAPD says motor vehicle thefts are up 30% since last year. The Ford F-Series is stolen the most in San Antonio, followed by the Chevrolet Silverado and Dodge Ram.
If you have any information on the suspects in this case, call police.