San Angelo Police: Man hits elderly man with canvas bag, arrested

From the San Angelo Police Department:

At about 8:04 a.m. Sunday, San Angelo Police officers responded to reports that a vehicle burglary had just occurred in the 4400 block of Meadow Creek Drive. Arriving Officers met with Adrian Ramirez, 77, and learned he had watched as a young Hispanic male peered into vehicles in the area. He also observed that the contents of his vehicle were scattered on the ground around his vehicle. Ramirez approached the suspect and told him he knew what he was doing and that the police had been called. He told the suspect to wait there until the police arrived. The suspect took a black canvas bag he was carrying and struck Ramirez in the side of the head. The suspect then fled on foot.

Officers in the area observed the suspect jumping fences and running through yards. Officer Able Nandin gave chase on foot and eventually captured the suspect. The suspect was identified as James Martin Garza, 19.

The black canvas bag was found to contain property taken from the victim’s vehicle. Garza was booked into the Tom Green County Jail on charges of burglary of a vehicle, evading detention and Class C Assault.