JOURDANTON, Texas — A man who was the subject of an aggressive nearly six-hour search by federal, state and local law enforcement officers was found hiding in a home near Jourdanton.
Janet said as they were returning from a shopping trip Monday afternoon, they noticed the usually peaceful neighborhood on the eastern outskirts of Jourdanton was alive with law enforcement.
"We saw police cars and trucks all over the place and we heard the helicopters and I said they're looking for somebody around here close," Janet said.
She turned out to be correct.
Atascosa County Sheriff David Soward said 29-year-old David Eric Garcia, who lists a San Antonio home address, is being held in the Atascosa County Jail on a $100,000 bond, charged with Burglary of a Habitation.
Soward said the tip that led to the capture came from a local resident who had seen a suspicious person in the early hours of the search, but wasn't aware of the manhunt.
Once they had fresh information, Soward said a team of his investigators moved in.
"We knew the people were out of town. We felt like he may be in there and sure enough he was," Soward said, adding the search was not without peril.
"They went in and started searching room by room in the dark, in a large home, probably over 3,000 square feet, with multiple bedrooms," Soward said, and with a wry smile adding "in the very last bedroom one of my investigators spotted him under the bed and they nabbed him and took him to jail."
Soward said as the crow flies, the wanted man probably only managed to travel about 400 yards to the south, but the search area covered much more territory.
The drama began early in the afternoon when a task force notified the Sheriff's office they were coming from San Antonio to serve a warrant.
Soward said the HIDTA (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas) Task Force came with a SWAT team, but they immediately notified locals when their target managed to escape from the home they came to search.
"We were nearby. We were able to respond quickly and mobilize a lot of officers. We got to the area and most importantly set up a perimeter to try to contain the individual inside that perimeter and also notify the public via social media," Soward said.
Help came from all directions, Soward said, on the ground and in the air. The Department of Public Safety provided a helicopter, and both DPS and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department sent search dogs.
Nearby counties also sent additional personnel.
"All together we probably had between 30 and 40 officers out there," Soward said, adding that in addition to the original warrant for a federal weapons charge, more guns were found during the execution of the warrant.
"In addition, the search warrant recovered over 30 weapons at this residence, which I doubt belong to him, and this remains under investigation," Soward said.
Federal officials have not released any information about Garcia and his name does not appear on the federal judicial calendar for hearings in the next seven days at this time.