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Two people have been arrested after leading a Hays County sheriff’s deputy on a car chase and firing shots toward the deputy Saturday night.
A Hays County sheriff’s deputy initiated a traffic stop on a 1999 red Toyota passenger car in the 700 block of Old Fitzhugh Rd. in Dripping Springs at approximately 9:30 p.m. on Saturday. The vehicle stopped for a moment but began to flee. A passenger in the fleeing vehicle began shooting at the deputy, Hays County Sheriff Gary Cutler said during a press conference Sunday.
The vehicle, which was traveling at an excess of over 100 mph, crashed near the intersection of U.S. Highway 281 and Highway 290 south of Johnson City in Blanco County. One occupant was arrested, later identified as Michael Villegas, while two occupants fled by foot.
Cutler said the search for the two fleeing suspects was aided by Hays County deputies, Blanco County sheriff’s deputies, Texas Department of Public Safety and canines for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in San Antonio.
DPS officers apprehended Nathaniel Castro, 22, and Klarissa Soto, 19, in connection with Saturday’s incident in a wooded area near the scene of the crash Sunday morning after a night-long search, Cutler said.
Castro and Soto have both been charged with aggravated assault of a public servant, evading arrest by vehicle and evading arrest by foot. Cutler said both await magistration. Castro has an extensive criminal record in El Paso, where he’s previously been arrested on multiple charges of assault with a deadly weapon.
Villegas was released from custody and hasn’t been charged with a crime.
Cutler said no injuries occurred during Saturday’s incident. According to a Facebook post by Blanco County Emergency Management, the Reverse 911 system, which has the ability to call all landlines in a specific area, was utilized to aid the investigation. Culter couldn’t confirm the use of Reverse 911 during Sunday’s press conference but he did thank the public for helping find Castro and Soto.
“We do want to contribute the help from the public so much to help us apprehend these two that ran on foot,” Cutler said. “The citizens were the ones that kept reporting information to us this morning to actually help lead to the apprehension of the two at-large and they were taken into custody.”
The investigation into Saturday’s incident is ongoing.
