SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio police detective accused of drunkenly punching his girlfriend in January was fired last month, weeks after a family violence charge from the incident was dismissed, records show.
A report from SAPD internal affairs obtained by the KSAT 12 Defenders details the series of events leading to Detective Daniel Pue's arrest on Jan. 7 and subsequent termination from the agency.
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Records state the violent incident started when Pue kicked in the front door of a woman's apartment around 2 a.m. on Jan. 7 and took her phone. Authorities note that Pue had maintained a "continuous romantic relationship" with her.
Later that morning, around 9 a.m., Bexar County Sheriff's Office deputies were called to Pue's far West Side home after a neighbor called to report that Pue was assaulting the woman in the front yard. An incident report states the neighbor told dispatchers he saw a man punching a woman in the face while he stood over her.
When deputies arrived at the scene, they said they saw Pue walking back to the home despite having been told by deputies to "come here." Pue, the report states, responded "No!"
Deputies said the woman's face was covered in blood and that she was crying in the front yard.
Suspension documents state Pue then refused to let the responding deputy inside his home and the deputy had to force himself in.
After entering the home, deputies ordered Pue to "get on the ground" and he responded, "For what? I'm a police officer," according to the report.
The report states Pue was taken into custody after deputies threatened to use a Taser on him if he didn't comply with their demands.
Records show that Pue told deputies and officers that he didn't fight the woman. However, she told police that Pue had assaulted her because "she was cheating on him."
She told responding deputies she was fine and refused treatment. She said she didn't want "Daniel to get in trouble." She asked deputies if she could speak to Pue, telling them, "Well, if there's bars in the window, then (Pue) can't hit me anymore," the report said.
Pue told authorities the woman had come to his home to "cause problems" between him and another unidentified person.
Pue also at first denied that he was actively dating the victim telling an investigator with the Sheriff's Office that the relationship had ended two years prior. When questioned later by a San Antonio police detective, Pue admitted that he had lied about his relationship with the woman, saying: "I knew everything being said and everything there is public information and I didn't want my (redacted) knowing things had continued, on this path with her."
The report notes that a responding deputy said Pue smelled of alcohol and that, before his arrest, someone whose name and relationship to Pue is redacted from the report, had called Pue's supervisor to inform them that he "appeared to be passed out due to drinking and had slobber and bile on his shirt from drinking too much."
An incident report notes that the woman also smelled of intoxicants.
"U wanted to f--k other people. There you go. Bye."
The suspension documents note that during the agency's investigation into Pue's alleged assault on the woman, officers uncovered that Pue had used his police resources on several occasions to search the woman's name on the National Crime Information Center database and Texas Crime Information Center database and had messaged her from his city-issued cellphone.
According to the investigation report summary, Pue had texted her the same day of his arrest, writing "Enjoy ur life," and "U wanted to f--k other people. There u go. Bye." And had used his city-issued phone to communicate with her on at least three other occasions in September 2018.
The investigative report states that Pue also searched for protected information about her on NCIC and TCIC on his city-issued computer.
Pue was issued an indefinite suspension based on allegations he broke rules regarding the truthfulness of members, responsibility to serve the public, use of intoxicants and waste or conversion of city equipment.
Case dismissed
Online records show the family violence charge against Pue was dismissed May 10 after the victim signed a waiver of prosecution.
Pue was issued an indefinite suspension on July 2 and the suspension took effect July 3.
On July 6, Pue, through an attorney, appealed his indefinite suspension from the police department and denied all of the allegations against him.
His case will eventually be heard by a third party arbitrator.