Man who jumped on cars in South Austin released from jail within hours

Police said 47-year-old Steven Caldwell was arrested for outstanding warrants including public intoxication, camping in public, theft, aggravated solicitation and possession of drug paraphernalia.

AUSTIN, Texas - Austin police have identified the man caught on camera jumping on cars stuck in rush-hour traffic in South Austin.

Police said 47-year-old Steven Caldwell was arrested for outstanding warrants including public intoxication, camping in public, theft, aggravated solicitation and possession of drug paraphernalia. So far he has not faced any new charges stemming from the incident, but police said it's still an active investigation.

Brian Vitellaro was stopped at a red light at the corner of Ben White Boulevard and Congress Avenue during rush hour Monday morning when this happened.

“It was actually scary. I mean, it was legitimately… You don't usually see somebody kind of come that unhinged normally in your day to day,” Vitellaro said.

Caldwell admits he was high on K2 at the time he was pounding on windows and climbing on top of an orange Subaru.

It was right after that that he made direct eye contact with Vitellaro.

“He's staring at me, just looking at me, and I'm looking at him going, ‘Don't.’ I was like, ‘Don't jump on my hood dude, do not do that.’ And then moments later, he comes slamming down, boot on my hood,” said Vitellaro.

The impact left a slight dent on Vitellaro’s car. He's not worried about that. He's more concerned that Caldwell isn't getting the help he needs, instead, he's sleeping in a tent at the intersection where this happened.

“What are you supposed to do? How do we solve this problem? Obviously, we're not doing a great job,” Vitellaro said.

Caldwell was arrested on multiple outstanding warrants, all of them for Class C misdemeanors. The Capital Area Private Defender Service, who did not specifically look at this case, said that could be the reason he was back at the same intersection just a few hours later. Typically, there is no bond on a Class C, they said. Instead, the accused is booked into jail, meets with a judge who sets a date to appear and then is released.

“He's not getting help. He's on the street again. He just did this on Monday. What's happening here?” asked Vitellaro.

“With multiple Class C misdemeanors like the subject had, years ago he would've been kept in jail for two or three days while he served out his time, but we have the freedom cities policies now,” said Austin Police Association President Ken Casaday.

Casaday said since the city moved to decriminalize low-level offenses, it's not uncommon for officers to book an offender into jail and see the person released before even finishing their paperwork.

“It's very discouraging and it makes officers not want to do their job, even though they're professional and they will always do that, but it really discourages you to where you don't want to do your job anymore,” said Casaday.

Caldwell told us he is sorry for the way he acted but doesn't believe he caused any damage.

Meanwhile, a woman who owns property in the area where this happened has requested Austin police perform additional patrols for safety reasons.