Misconduct
In May, 2007, Deputy Chief Rosemary Flammia sued the city alleging Chief William McManus had passed her over for promotion twice in favor of less-qualified men. The city council voted in 2010 to settle the suit for an undisclosed amount.
In September 2008, Officer James McClure sexually assaulted a woman under the cover of authority. After an internal investigation, he was suspended indefinitely.
In April 2008, a San Antonio cab driver assaulted a gay tourist. Police responded and arrested the tourist who had called for help. As he was locked up, a guard mockingly asked the man if he was a “faggot or a homo.” The man filed a complaint but the department declined to investigate.
In April 2009, nine San Antonio police officers broke down the door of a couple searching for drugs. None were found. The family was handcuffed and humiliated for two hours, one of the women being allowed to dress only in the presence of police officers. They were never charged with any crime. One of the officer volunteered to the handcuffed women that he liked “quirky women because they were freaks in bed.” No officers were ever disciplined or retrained as a result of the incident.
In June 2009, Officer Gregory Mickel raped a woman in his official vehicle. When the woman called 911, Mickel himself responded to the call, cancelled an ambulance that was en route and made a false report. After being allowed to plead guilty to misdemeanor charges, he was suspended indefinitely.
In 2009, if not earlier, Officer Gabriel Villarreal began a pattern of using official computers to learn personal information of women he was attracted to. He made at least one unannounced early-morning visit to the home of one woman under the cover of his official position. Villarreal was suspended indefinitely.
In November 2009, Officer Winder Morales flipped his police car while driving drunk. He was off duty and resigned from the department. He was sentenced to three days in jail and probation.
In early 2010, Officer Craig Nash handcuffed a transgender woman, drove her in his official car to a secluded place and forced her to perform oral sex on him. He was sentenced to a year in jail on charges of official oppression. Officer Nash has also been accused of rape by another woman.
In March 2010, Officer Christopher Martínez was suspended indefinitely for repeatedly disabling the tracking device in his official car and having sex in public areas while on duty. He also used official computers to find information about women he was interested in. Reports indicated he had a habit of falsely reporting being on a call when in fact he was visiting friends. Other officers covered up his false reporting.
In September, 2009, two police officers were punished for a campaign of harassment against a female co-worker. Officer Aaron Terrzas was suspended indefinitely and Officer Eric Rubio was given a 60-day suspension.
On 29 October 2010, Clifford Morgan, the head of the San Antonio Police Officers’ Association, the local police union, was sentenced to five years in prison for embezzling over $100,000 from the group.
In December 2010, Officer David Seaton was sentenced to fifteen years for the manslaughter of Officer Robert Davis two years before. Seaton was driving quickly to a burglary report in his official vehicle when he struck a second car that had been disabled by a previous accident. That car in turn struck and killed officer Davis. Seaton will be required to serve at least half his sentence in jail.
In November, 2011, Officer Victor Gonzales was allowed to plead guilty to charge of official oppression and was suspended indefinitely after six years with the department. Gonzales along with Officer Michael Munoz had sexually assaulted a woman while on duty.
On 10 November 2011, two San Antonio police officers living with each other got into a domestic dispute. Officer Julie Cortez broke the window of a car belonging to her boyfriend Officer Senovio Elizondo who then did the same to her car. They then drew guns. The couple were arrested by local sheriff deputies.
San Antonio Police Lieutenant Lee Rakun was placed on "permanent suspension" in July 2012 after a drunken incident when he verbally assaulted an off-duty police officer with racial slurs. The suspension, the equivalent of being fired, was fifteenth suspension (and second permanent one) in Rakun's nineteen years with the department. The police union president was unsure if Rakun's career total of suspensions was a record, but allowed it could be among the top five in the department.
In early January 2013, Officer Curtis W. Lundy was arrested by Police Chief William McManus on charges he had planted marijuana on suspects and then demanded cash payments.
Read more about this topic: San Antonio Police Department