One Texas mother turned her teenage son into authorities after spotting him in surveillance photos released by Crime Stoppers, say police.
The crime busting program known for its anonymous tip line asked for the public’s help in identifying two male suspects believed to be responsible in a recent San Antonio carjacking case where the alleged female victim was held at gunpoint. The mother of 18-year-old Joshua Gabriel Rea recognized her son in the security images and brought him into a local precinct for questioning.
On Wednesday, KSAT reported that the San Antonio Police Department and Crime Stoppers, stymied for solutions, asked for the public’s help in identifying two male suspects captured by security cameras exiting an area Walmart. The anonymous tip line offered up to $5,000 for information that would lead to the identification and arrests of the purported perpetrators. The incident occurred on May 31 around 6:15 p.m. in the Walmart parking lot. According to police, the Rea and another male suspect approached a female victim as she returned to her vehicle.
The woman tried to get into her car and shut the door on the assailants but Rea held the door open, brandished a gun, and forced her out of the vehicle, according to the arrest warrant, according to the San Antonio Express News. The suspects got into the woman’s car and drove it away.
Subsequently, Rea’s mom happened to catch a local news report seeking the public’s help in identifying the suspects. Unlike another Texas parent, Tonya Couch, better known as the “affluenza” mom, who Tarrant County officials believed helped son Ethan, the “affluenza” teen, flee to Mexico following a probation violation in late 2015, Rea’s mom boldly drove her son straight to a San Antonio police substation so he could turn himself into authorities. Reportedly, Rea’s mother did not call Crime Stoppers for the $5,000 “tip” reward as it remains unclaimed.
According to San Antonio police, they interviewed the 18-year-old. He admitted to confronting the woman at her car and to pulling out and waving a handgun at her when she tried to get into the vehicle and get away from him and the other suspect, who remains unidentified.
Late Wednesday, officers arrested Rea on suspicion of aggravated robbery. Bexar County jail records show authorities since set the teenager’s bail at $75,000.
Aggravated robbery, also known as armed robbery, is a first degree felony, according to the Texas Penal Code. If convicted, Rea could face a punishment of five to 99 years in state prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
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