San Antonio police say a four-month search is over.
The man they believe was behind the wheel of a stolen Camaro that killed five people and hurt 15 more is now in handcuffs – and, according to reporters, this isn’t his first run-in with the law.
KENS 5 reporter Vanessa Croix was at police headquarters as 19-year-old Ethan Michael Gonzales was brought in.
She says Gonzales had very little to say, other than claiming he “had nothing to do with it,” even as detectives point to DNA, video, and phone records tying him to the wreck.
Deadly July Crash On I-35
Vanessa Croix tells viewers the crash dates back to July 17, on the southbound lanes of I-35 near Cassin Road on San Antonio’s Southwest Side.
She reports that police say a stolen white Chevrolet Camaro, an 18-wheeler, and a Transportes Guerra bus traveling from Fort Worth to Eagle Pass were all involved in the catastrophe.
According to Croix, investigators believe the Camaro was traveling at about 105 miles per hour.
She says officers described it swerving in and out of lanes before it sideswiped the bus, pushing the bus directly into the path of the oncoming 18-wheeler.
The outcome, as Croix explains, was horrific.
Two people died at the scene, and police say three more died after being rushed to the hospital.
In total, Croix reports that 15 other people suffered serious injuries in the wreck.
San Antonio police now call it one of the deadliest traffic crashes the city has seen in years.
From a common-sense standpoint, 105 miles per hour in highway traffic with a stolen car and passengers is a recipe for disaster.
Mix that with a full bus and a semi-truck, and there’s almost no way this ends without mass casualties.
DNA, Video, And Phone Records Tie Suspect To Scene
KSAT-12’s cameras were rolling as officers walked Gonzales into custody in handcuffs, with reporters shouting questions.
On the raw video, journalists can be heard asking where he’s been for the last four months, whether he’s sorry, and what he has to say to the families of the five people who died.
Gonzales looks straight ahead and says almost nothing.
At one point, he says, “Nothing to do with that. Nothing,” insisting he wasn’t responsible.
A short time later, SAPD public information officer Emily Garvin stepped to the microphones to lay out what detectives say they have.
Garvin identifies the suspect as 19-year-old Ethan Michael Gonzales and says he’s being charged with five counts of manslaughter and five counts of hit-and-run causing death, with “dozens” of additional felony charges still pending.
Garvin says the Camaro was confirmed stolen and that four people were seen fleeing the car right after the crash.
Two of those people, she explains, later became part of a broader investigation into stolen vehicles and burglary of a vehicle.
To connect Gonzales specifically to the driver’s seat, Garvin says detectives relied on multiple pieces of evidence.
She explains that DNA found inside the white Camaro came back as a match to Gonzales.
Garvin also says there was Ring camera footage showing Gonzales at an apartment complex after the crash.
On top of that, she notes that his cell phone was “pinned” to the location of the collision at the time it happened.
Taken together, those details sound a lot like the kind of layered evidence prosecutors want in a big vehicular case: biology (DNA), video, and digital location data.
It’s a reminder that in 2025, running from a wreck isn’t just about outrunning a patrol car – it’s trying to outrun the entire modern forensic toolbox.
A History Of Dangerous Encounters With Police
Vanessa Croix points out that this July crash was not the first time Gonzales’ name has shown up in serious police files.
She tells viewers that back in April, months before the deadly wreck, officers say Gonzales led them on a separate dangerous pursuit.
According to Croix, that earlier incident happened near Frio City Road and Cerralvo Street.
She says officers tried to conduct a traffic stop, and Gonzales allegedly refused to get out of the vehicle.
Instead of complying, Croix reports, police say he hit the gas and took off.
With help from the Texas Department of Public Safety, officers later stopped the car not far away.
Inside that vehicle, Croix says officers reported finding both drugs and a gun.
Those charges were already on his record when the July I-35 crash happened.
When a 19-year-old has an April chase involving drugs and a firearm, and then police say he’s driving a stolen car at 105 miles an hour in July, it paints a pattern that goes way beyond “one bad mistake.”
It looks more like a trajectory – one that ends with multiple funerals and shattered families.
Garvin confirms in her briefing that Gonzales is facing the most serious charges tied to the July wreck.
She notes that three other men connected to the stolen Camaro have been identified and have faced charges like unauthorized use of a vehicle and burglary of a vehicle.
Right now, though, Gonzales is the only one charged with five counts of manslaughter and five counts of hit-and-run death.
That tracks with what Garvin explicitly states: police believe he was the driver.
The Four-Month Manhunt And The Agencies Behind It
The crash happened in mid-July. Gonzales was arrested in late November.
That four-month gap raised a lot of questions about where he was and how long it would take to track him down.
Garvin tells reporters that detectives from SAPD’s traffic investigations unit, homicide unit, and covert unit all worked the case.
She also credits the U.S. Marshals and Medina County authorities for helping locate and arrest Gonzales.
She calls it an example of detectives “working so hard to bring justice to these families, no matter the time frame.”
It’s a diplomatic way of saying they were not going to let a 19-year-old vanish after a wreck that killed five people and injured 15 more.
From the outside, it’s easy to ask, “How did he stay free this long?”
But manhunts for suspects who blend into normal life, especially young ones with local connections, often take time – especially when multiple people ran from the car and witnesses may not have known who was actually behind the wheel.
The frustrating part, for many, is that Gonzales had already been on law enforcement’s radar months before.
Croix’s reporting on that April pursuit makes it hard not to wonder whether a tougher earlier intervention might have kept him off the road entirely by July.
What This Case Says About Speeding And Stolen Cars
At the end of her briefing, Garvin steps back from the details and delivers a broader warning.
She says this case is “a huge reminder” that speeding can cause “serious bodily injury to people and even death that will affect people for the rest of their lives.”
It sounds obvious on paper – speeding is dangerous – but the numbers here give that sentence real weight.
One stolen car. One teenager behind the wheel. Five dead. Fifteen injured. An 18-wheeler driver and a bus full of passengers who never had a say in the risk they were forced to take.
There’s also a second layer that both Croix and Garvin’s accounts highlight: stolen vehicles aren’t just property crimes.
Once that Camaro was stolen and put into the hands of reckless young men, it became a 3,500-pound weapon moving at freeway speeds.
When detectives say four people ran from that Camaro after the wreck, it underlines something harsh.
The people inside, according to police, chose to disappear into the dark instead of rendering aid, calling 911, or even staying to face what happened.
That’s why those hit-and-run death charges matter so much.
They’re not just legal language – they speak to a basic moral duty that was abandoned on the side of I-35.
Families Waiting For Justice
We still haven’t heard the full stories of the five people who died or the 15 who were badly hurt.
But just from the way reporters and officers talk, it’s clear the human toll is enormous.
Croix notes that “more than a dozen” people were injured, and Garvin confirms 15 sustained serious bodily injuries.
Those victims and their families are now facing surgeries, rehab, trauma, and years of financial and emotional fallout.
Meanwhile, Gonzales maintains, on camera, that he had “nothing to do with that.”
The courts will ultimately decide whether the DNA, video, and phone records tell a different story.
What’s already obvious, though, is that this crash was not a freak accident in the middle of an otherwise quiet life.
As Vanessa Croix’s reporting lays out, there were warning signs months earlier – a chase, a gun, drugs, and a teenager who, according to police, kept choosing the gas pedal over accountability.
Now five people are dead, three other suspects are tangled in felony cases, and a 19-year-old faces manslaughter and hit-and-run death charges that could lock him away for years.
The road back for the families affected by that stolen Camaro will be a lot longer than any four-month manhunt – and no arrest can truly make them whole.
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The article Not the first time he’s been in trouble with the law’: Four-month manhunt ends with arrest of driver accused of killing five in stolen Camaro first appeared on Survival World.
Raised in a small Arizona town, Kevin grew up surrounded by rugged desert landscapes and a family of hunters. His background in competitive shooting and firearms training has made him an authority on self-defense and gun safety. A certified firearms instructor, Kevin teaches others how to properly handle and maintain their weapons, whether for hunting, home defense, or survival situations. His writing focuses on responsible gun ownership, marksmanship, and the role of firearms in personal preparedness.
