SAN ANTONIO – Video obtained by the KSAT 12 Defenders shows a young girl grab a stun gun and hold it near the head of a shackled, off-duty Bexar County Sheriff's Office detention deputy during a hazing incident last year.
The video, which is just over two minutes long, was posted on the mobile messaging app Snapchat in August 2017 before it made its way into the hands of BCSO administration.
The sheriff's office released the footage this week following repeated open records requests from the Defenders.
Three of the seven deputies involved in the incident are no longer with the sheriff's office, according to personnel records released by BCSO this week.
The footage, recorded as a series of short videos during a house party, shows Special Emergency Response Team deputies pounce on Corporal Devin Tutor, who officials confirm had recently been promoted within SERT.
Tutor's arms and legs are eventually shackled behind his back as deputies simulate using a department-issued stun gun on him and repeatedly yell law enforcement commands at him.
((WARNING: THIS VIDEO CONTAINS GRAPHIC LANGUAGE))
"Certainly can't allow, in this day and age, in the 21st century, to allow hazing to continue," said Sheriff Javier Salazar.
A crowd standing nearby encourages a toddler to get in on the act, at one point telling her to say to the deputies, "Let me tase him."
Moments later the little girl grabs the stun gun and moves toward Tutor's body, before an adult steps in and knocks the weapon away.
"I challenge anybody to watch this video and tell me that a toddler holding one of my issued Tasers is a good idea, or that it presents a pretty picture for us at the sheriff's office," said Salazar.
Deputies Alyssa Aranda and Michael Gomez resigned after the video surfaced, while BCSO officials began the termination process of Deputy Joseph Martinez after he was arrested in an unrelated DWI case earlier this month.
Deputies Ryan Ferrell and Juan Macias each received suspensions that were shortened to 30 days on appeal, while Deputy Joshua Montoya received a 15-day suspension after appealing.
Tutor's discipline was later withdrawn, according to BCSO records.
Citing insufficient evidence, the Bexar County District Attorney's Office in March declined to charge the deputies.
The deputies were facing possible charges of child endangerment, unlawful restraint and hazing.
Salazar said that he and his administration have worked hard to end a hazing culture that has existed within the detention facility for 25 to 30 years.
The deputies involved in the incident who still work for BCSO are no longer part of SERT, Salazar confirmed Friday.