{"id":479355,"date":"2026-10-28T14:26:07","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T14:26:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/479355\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T14:26:07","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T14:26:07","slug":"san-antonio-couple-run-over-by-daughters-ex-boyfriend-speaks-out-after-months-long-wait-for-arrest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/479355\/","title":{"rendered":"San Antonio couple run over by daughter\u2019s ex-boyfriend speaks out after months-long wait for arrest"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN ANTONIO \u2013 A San Antonio family says they are beyond frustrated that it took the San Antonio Police Department months to arrest an alleged hit-and-run suspect<\/a> whom they not only knew very well, but whose poor decision resulted in a life of severe pain and suffering.<\/p>\n

Up until Sunday morning, Oct. 25, the accused suspect, Jonathan Sarabia, had been walking free after police said he hit his ex-girlfriend\u2019s parents trying to leave a confrontation with them.<\/p>\n

In the early morning of March 2, the Herrera family\u2019s lives changed abruptly for the worse, and recently, they decided to tell their side of the story because they said they have been desperate for justice.<\/p>\n

Ashely Rodriguez, Sarabia\u2019s ex-girlfriend, said it all started when he showed up to her job.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt that time we had already been broken up for two months, but that day, he texted me wanting to talk,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cSo, I was trying to set up a time to talk, but not that day. I knew he was more emotionally involved in that breakup, and I really didn\u2019t want to lead him along or anything. <\/p>\n

\u201cI told him that I could meet him tomorrow. That night, I ended up accidentally locking my keys in my car when I was at work, so while I had some mechanics helping me to unlock my car, I texted him that I needed him to bring my spare car key with him when we meet tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said that is when he allegedly showed up to her work.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe walked right up to my car and unlocked the door and said, \u2018I\u2019m going to give you a ride home, and I am going to keep the car.\u2019 I said, \u2018You can\u2019t keep the car because you haven\u2019t paid anything on it for two years. That is why I kept the car after we broke up,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cHe said, \u2018Well, I opened your door, so.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Rodriguez said she did not want to make a scene.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went back into the main office of my work and just sat there for about 10 minutes, but I noticed he wasn\u2019t leaving,\u201d she said. \u201cSo I thought, \u2018Maybe he just wants to talk, so just hear him out, and hopefully that will be the end of it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

She said she got in the car, and on the ride to her family\u2019s house, he allegedly talked about their breakup and a second chance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were in the driveway, and at that point, Mom texted me, \u2018Hey, are you OK?\u2019 I didn\u2019t want to respond because I knew my parents would probably come outside because they were worried, but I texted back, \u2018I\u2019m OK. Jon is here. He\u2019s trying to take the car, but don\u2019t worry. We are talking. I\u2019m good. Stay inside.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when her parents, Joel and Susie Herrera, said their parental instincts kicked in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came outside and saw her ex wanted to take the car, and I said, \u2018What gives you the right to take her car?\u2019 He just gave me this \u2018F you\u2019 look,\u201d Susie Herrera said.<\/p>\n

The couple said they\u2019d known Sarabia for four years and treated him like a son, which is why they were shocked when everything began to unfold.<\/p>\n

\u201cI walked up,\u201d Joel Herrera, her dad, said. \u201cI said, \u2018What\u2019s going on, mijo?\u2019 I looked at him and the gear shift and the keys. At that point, I was leaning in, and he was looking up at me. I told him just to take the keys out, not thinking of what he was going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the released surveillance video the family handed over, you could hear the couple scream for Sarabia to stop before the car backed out, hitting Rodriguez and Joel, and running over Susie.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez said she broke her wrist as she was hit in the back by the car door and sent flying into the street.<\/p>\n

Joel said his foot was nearly severed, hanging on by flesh.<\/p>\n

Sadly, Susie got the worst of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe ran her over,\u201d Joel said as he got emotional. \u201cBroke her legs, punctured her spleen, liver, and lung, and broke all of her ribs. She died there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The family said that once on the way to the hospital and twice while in the ICU, the doctors said Susie\u2019s heart had stopped, and she had to be resuscitated.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll I remember is falling back and blacking out,\u201d Susie said. \u201cI have a big gash on my head, and brain bleeds, but that is all I remember,\u201d she said as she began to weep. \u201cEvery time that memory comes back to my head, I pray to God to take it away. It is so hard not to think about it. He ruined my life. He ruined our lives!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe had a trach and tubes coming out of everywhere,\u201d Joel said. \u201cMy foot had to be completely reconstructed. I saw everything and was in so much pain. My foot was just hanging there. I told the doctors just to chop it off; it was so bad, but they saved my foot. The doctor told me, though, \u2018If you break your foot in any way, we will have to amputate it.\u2019 Now that is my biggest fear.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple spent several weeks in the hospital and months afterward in physical therapy.<\/p>\n

Sadly, Joel lost his job, and they fell into financial problems, which also added to Joel\u2019s PTSD.<\/p>\n

After months without any communication from their SAPD detective about where their case stood, the family finally reached out to KSAT\u2019s Japhanie Gray for answers in August.<\/p>\n

Multiple emails back and forth with SAPD and the Bexar County District Attorney\u2019s Office seemed to go nowhere until it was finally discovered that police had not made any arrests in this traumatic hit-and-run case.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was walking free, living his life, while we were going through hell,\u201d Susie said. \u201cI think it was you calling them that pushed them to call us. You bugging them the way you did. We wouldn\u2019t have been having this conversation if you didn\u2019t stay on them. The police know they fumbled.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I spoke to the detective months ago after you had reached out to them, he called us,\u201d Joel said. \u201cHe said, \u2018I thought I submitted the report, but I only hit save. I have just sent the report off now.\u2019 Then the DA called a couple of weeks ago and basically said the case just hit their desk and they had no idea about our side of the story because no one had tried to reach us. <\/p>\n

Joel said nothing started moving until they reached out to KSAT. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems like they are trying to clean up this mess as far as why it took so long for us to get justice. It took too long. SAPD took too long,\u201d Joel said. \u201cNobody was helping. Nobody was giving us justice. They dropped the ball. \u201d<\/p>\n

As of right now, Sarabia is facing two counts of collision causing serious bodily injury and one count of collision causing injury.<\/p>\n

The family is hoping, because Susie nearly lost her life multiple times, that those charges get upgraded.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to see the DA throw the book at him,\u201d Joel said. \u201cWe want at least 25-50 years. The max penalty on this. He left us to die out there. I just can\u2019t believe he was out running around living his life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShame on you. Shame on you for what you did to us and not thinking,\u201d Susie said with words directed at Sarabia. \u201cYou should not be able to hurt people and get away with it. You need to talk to God.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou will pay,\u201d Joel said. \u201cThere are so many things I want to say right now, but I am going to leave it in God\u2019s hands. You have to pay. You have to answer for this.\u201d<\/p>\n

KSAT will continue to follow through to find out why it took police so long to make an arrest in this case, and why it took KSAT to get involved for any real communication to happen between law enforcement, the DA, and the Herrera family.<\/p>\n

Read also: <\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by KSAT – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 A San Antonio family says they are beyond frustrated that it took the San Antonio…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":479356,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1680,294,82,84,83],"class_list":["post-479355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-arrest","tag-crime","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=479355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/479356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=479355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=479355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}