Holly MatkinSan Antonio, TX – A convicted felon out on bond jumped in to help a San Antonio police officer as he was struggling to arrest a suspect who grabbed his duty pistol late last month (video below).
The incident occurred after Austin Police Officer Linville spotted 44-year-old Jack Albert Evans at the corner of Sultonfuss and Saipan near Pleasanton Road on Aug. 22, KENS reported.
Evans had a warrant out for his arrest at the time.
When Officer Linville tried to make contact with him, Evans started to flee on foot, witnesses said.
The officer chased him down, but Evans went on the fight and they both fell to the ground, KENS reported.
Mark Anthony Gonzales, a mixed martial arts fighter, said he happened to be driving through the area when he saw the officer struggling with the suspect in the roadway.
“I put the car in park and told my wife to start recording and, as you see in the video, the officer started getting rocked,” Gonzales told KENS.
He said he knew he needed to do something to help him.
“It was one of those life-or-death situations,” Gonzales said.
Cell phone footage showed the Gonzales as he pinned Evans’ legs to the ground and helped subdue the combative suspect.
Evans even tried to grab Officer Linville’s duty pistol at one point during the brawl, the video showed.
“I was able to calmly pry his fingers away from the weapon and in the video, you hear me telling the officer, ‘I got it, go ahead,'” Gonzales later told KENS.
Gonzales also helped the exhausted officer to gain control of Evans’ arm so he could finish handcuffing him, the video showed.
A neighbor said he saw Gonzales helping the officer.
“He was getting the guy’s hands out away from the gun and trying to help the policeman,” the resident told KENS. “Then I saw everything was okay… I’m grateful he was there to help the policeman.”
Evans was ultimately arrested on charges of evading arrest, felon in possession of a firearm, and attempting to take a weapon from an officer, KENS reported.
He was booked into jail on a $101,000 bond.
Gonzales said he has not always had a positive relationship with the legal system, but said that didn’t matter when he saw the officer in the middle of a life-or-death struggle, KENS reported.
“I despised [the legal system] because of what I’ve gone through, but that’s not me as a person,” he said. “I still went out of my way because I knew it was the right thing to do.”
Gonzales, who is also a convicted felon, admitted that he was out on bond when he came to Officer Linville’s aid.
He said he grew up in foster care and that he is still working to improve himself.
“I’m doing a lot more good than what you have on record,” Gonzales told KENS. “I’m still going to lend a helping hand, because I’m different.”
Watch the incident unfold in the video below. Warning – Graphic Content and Obscene Language:
A San Antonio Police officer was trying to arrest a suspect attempting to get away. Fortunately for the officer, Mark Anthony Gonzales is a trained MMA professional fighter. pic.twitter.com/m3eof2gr39
— The Daily Sneed™ 🕗 (@Tr00peRR) September 6, 2021
