by BRAD ROLLINS
Managing Editor
Two San Marcos mens’ Wednesday night drive in a reportedly stolen car during which they intimidated other drivers with a BB gun have landed them in jail facing felony charges including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Eric Gonzales, 24, and Carlos Ruiz, 23, took a black Honda Civic from a Saltillo Street home and minutes later showed up at a residence in the Kelsea Place apartments, San Marcos police Sgt. Fred Wisener said. Greeted at the door, Gonzales displayed what appeared to be a hand held assault gun. Not long afterward, an off-duty police officer reported a Hispanic male flaunting what appeared to be a gun while driving on CM Allen Parkway. At about 9:15 p.m., Texas State University officers stopped the vehicle on Hopkins Street near Charles Austin Drive and arrested Ruiz and Gonzales.
“They turned a joyride and a toy gun into two felonies,” Wisener said.
They are charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison, and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, a state jail felony punishable by 180 days to a year in jail.
The gun recovered from the missing vehicle is a CO- and air pressure-powered BB pistol manufactured to resemble a Kel-Tec assault weapon, Wisener said. A BB gun by itself is not necessarily a deadly weapon but the aggravated assault statute applies to threats that causes the victim to fear for his life or safety, Wisener said.
ERIC GONZALES (top) AND CARLOS RUIZ
BOOKING PHOTOS by HAYS COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
