SAN ANTONIO – During part of Thanksgiving week this year, San Antonio police made nearly a 30% increase in DWI arrests compared to the same date range last year.
After covering multiple crashes last week that ended with similar charges, KSAT requested statistics from the San Antonio Police Department for DWI arrests during the Thanksgiving period between Tuesday, Nov. 25, through Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025.
A spokesperson for the department said SAPD made 70 DWI arrests in that date range this year. Between those same days last year, the spokesperson said SAPD made 55 DWI arrests.
Azeza Salama, the executive director of San Antonio’s Free Rides Program, said she was disappointed to see the increase.
“It made me sick to my stomach‚” she said. “We’ve got people making irresponsible decisions.”
The Free Rides Program is a nonprofit initiative that partners with local bars and restaurants to offer free and safe rides home for people who may have had too much to drink. KSAT spoke to her last week ahead of the holiday, hoping to change the statistics.
When asked where she moves from here, Salama replied “forward.”
“That’s the only way,” Salama said.
Salama lost her late fiancé in 2016 after a drunk driver hit her family’s car head-on. She shares a similarly tragic story to Natalie Garza.
“She was so full of spirit and so full of life,” Garza said of her sister Yulissa Valero.
Valero died after a wrong-way driver, who was suspected of drinking and driving, crashed into her vehicle. She died and left a young son behind.
“Nothing’s the same,” Garza said. “I wish her face would be the reminder of not drinking and driving.”
KSAT asked SAPD via email on Tuesday evening if they had an increased presence on the roads during the Thanksgiving week, but did not hear back as of Tuesday night.
KSAT also reached out to the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office for its statistics. A spokesperson said they would provide an update with numbers this week.
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