DA drops charge in Hill Country police stop that led to immigrant's arrest

May 12-A San Antonio man who was arrested by San Marcos police in March and remains in federal immigration detention will no longer face criminal charges in the incident that led to his arrest.

The Hays County District Attorney's Office says it has declined a charge filed against Gerardo Reyes Gonzalez, 44, and plans to also decline the charge against his son, Esteban Reyes, 17.

The officer who arrested Reyes Gonzalez will be suspended for 24 hours and must undergo mandatory re-training, following an internal investigation into his actions, San Marcos police officials said Tuesday.

Both Reyes Gonzalez and his son were charged with interference of public duties, a Class B misdemeanor, after San Marcos officers pulled over their vehicle at 4 a.m. on March 14. After the pair were arrested, Reyes Gonzalez was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, where he remains in detention.

San Marcos police officials previously that officers were responding to a report from a mother that her 15-year-old daughter was leaving and trying to get into a truck outside. Police said Esteban Reyes was driving a truck that matched the description and that he did not comply with officers' orders when he was stopped and told to exit the vehicle.

Police said Reyes Gonzalez, who was in the passenger seat, held onto his son's arm and "attempted to keep the driver inside the truck."

In a letter to San Marcos Police Chief Stan Standridge on Monday, Hays County First Assistant District Attorney Gregg Cox wrote that his office declined the charge filed against Reyes Gonzalez, and would offer Reyes a six-month diversion that, if accepted and completed, would result in his charge also being declined.

"This decision is not a reflection of the legal actions of the responding officers in the case," Cox wrote, saying that officers were "within their legal authority" when they stopped the truck, based on the information they had at the time.

"When officers stopped the subject's vehicle shortly after this call, the specific information known to the officers supported a belief that an emergency may be ongoing requiring an 'ongoing emergency' response," the letter said.

But a "full retrospective review" of the case show that it was not an "ongoing dangerous emergency that required heightened response," Cox said.

Cox said that given Gerardo Reyes Gonzalez's "lesser role" in the police encounter, the district attorney's office was formally declining the charge.

The office determined that Esteban Reyes' actions would be "best addressed via pre-trial diversion." If he accepts the offer and completes the six-month period without other criminal charges, his interference charge will also be declined, Cox said. The charge can be filed again if he faces other criminal charges in that time.

San Marcos police officials had placed Officer Jaciel Cortina on administrative leave effective April 10 while conducting an internal investigation into the arrests

That investigation found that Cortina violated three department policies, the city said Tuesday. One was related to an "inaccurate statement" on an affidavit, another for failing to "articulate the basis for detention," and the third for "failure to verify the juvenile subject's location and investigative questioning prior to making arrests."

Cortina was issued a 24-hour suspension and must complete training on de-escalation and investigative practices, the city said.

The city said it "acknowledges the concerns expressed by the family and members of the public related to this case and expects officers to act to the highest professional standards at all times."

As part of the internal investigation, Standridge made several recommendations to implement in the department, the city said, including amending department policies to "require articulation of the basis for detention and arrests" and to clarify "requirements for report accuracy."

He also recommended setting requirements for using a standard translation application, creating a public-facing dashboard for "use of force, de-escalation and dignity in policing metrics," establishing "mandatory supervisory and command protocols for significant incidents," and creating a San Marcos Police Department Leadership Academy.

Standridge also recommended adopting a policy governing the police department's protocols for ICE administrative warrants and detainers, the city said.

San Marcos police said previously that its officers were not aware before stopping the truck that Gerardo Reyes Gonzalez had an immigration detainer - a request from ICE for state or local law enforcement agencies to hold a person in custody and notify the agency before their release.

He remains in custody at the T. Don Hutto Detention Center in Taylor, according to ICE records.

Local advocates have called for Gerardo's release from detention, and Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra has urged San Marcos to release body camera footage of the arrest to provide "transparency about what occurred and how decisions were made."

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.