McAllen police say a 23-year-old Mission man who punched a woman in the stomach before crashing her car refused to let emergency personnel treat the woman, who suffered a broken leg.
Police arrested Jesus Rene Espinoza Jr., who they forcibly dragged out of the vehicle, at around 7 p.m. Oct. 27 in the 3900 block of West Uvalde.
Espinoza is charged with intoxication assault, possession of a controlled substance, resisting arrest and assault family violence.
McAllen police say they were dispatched to the location in response to a major vehicle accident regarding a vehicle that had been involved in a hit-and-run in Mission.
When they arrived, the vehicle, a blue 2011 Lincoln, was sitting in a field.
“I observed that Mr. Espinoza was in the back seat area of his vehicle shouting profanities to all bystanders and was not allowing a female passenger to exit the vehicle,” the probable cause affidavit states.
Authorities say when they arrived, the woman complained of leg pain and alleged Espinoza had blood shot eyes, slurred speech and appeared to be intoxicated.
“Mr. Espinoza was very uncooperative, combative, and shouted ‘shoot me, if you want to arrest me, you are going to have to drag me out of the car,’” police say in the affidavit.
After refusing to leave the vehicle or let medical personnel treat the woman, police and firefighters broke the windows to the vehicle and dragged Espinoza out, authorities say.
“Since Mr. Espinoza refused to walk, we had to carry him over to the street to get him into a patrol unit,” according to the charging document.
McAllen police say Espinoza used his leg to try and keep police from closing the door and began “kicking and tossing himself around.”
Authorities say they did not read him his Miranda warning because he was “acting uncooperative, aggressive and combative.”
On the way to the jail, a patrol officer says he continued kicking the patrol unit’s door “as hard as he could.”
At the jail, authorities say they found four Xanax pills hidden in a plastic baggie inside his sock.
Meanwhile, police interviewed the woman at the hospital where she said Espinoza had assaulted her right before the crash.
“Officer Guzman stated that (she) told him that Mr. Espinoza had punched her on her stomach as he was driving, because she wanted for him to stop the car,” the probable cause affidavit states.
The woman had previously been in a relationship with Espinoza and on the day of the crash they had an argument at a Dollar General store in Mission, authorities say.
After the argument, police say Espinoza drove to a Feldman’s liquor store and bought multiple small bottles of liquor.
When the woman refused to drink with him, police say he became aggravated and drank all the liquor and drove away in her vehicle.
“(She) stated as Jesus was driving she observed Jesus to be swerving all over the road almost causing multiple accidents. (She) stated she was aware that Jesus had also take (sic) about 3 to 4 Xanax pills before they went to Feldman’s,” the affidavit states.
The woman pleaded for him to stop driving, but he refused and hit two vehicles in Mission and did not stop, police say.
When he punched her, the front hood of the vehicle flipped up, blocking the windshield, right before the crash, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Espinoza remains jailed on a total of $47,500 in bonds, records show.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with a photo of the suspect and to remove photos incorrectly accompanying this story.
