SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio Police Department officer was suspended 20 days this summer after making good on a threat to pull over a tow truck driver who worked for a specific company, records obtained by KSAT Investigates show.
The suspension of Officer Matthew Quintanilla was detailed in paperwork released Wednesday covering SAPD suspensions for the months of August and September.
Recommended Videos
Quintanilla, a 14-year veteran of the department, was originally handed a contemplated 30-day suspension, which was later shortened following a hearing with Chief William McManus.
Quintanilla on March 10 responded to the 200 block of S. Bowie Street to assist a woman whose vehicle was being towed, records show.
Once on scene, Quintanilla verbally confronted the driver of the wrecker, at one point stating that he would start pulling over drivers who work for the man’s company/employer, the paperwork states.
Less than an hour later, Quintanilla pulled over a wrecker being driven by the same man, stating that he was not wearing a seatbelt.
Quintanilla was suspended for violating department rules pertaining to conduct and behavior.
Other notable suspensions
Grady Coleman
Officer Grady Coleman, whose repeated run-ins with the public have been well documented, was suspended five days in August after failing to properly respond to two separate calls during the same shift.
During the first incident, a hit-and-run call in the 5200 block of Meadow Field, Coleman handled the call over the phone rather than actually responding to the scene, his suspension paperwork states.
After then being sent by dispatch to serve as a cover officer for a recovered stolen vehicle call, Coleman showed up but stayed in his SAPD vehicle.
Coleman’s body-worn camera was turned on during the shift, but at times it was left on the front passenger seat of his vehicle instead of being worn, the paperwork states.
After a relative of the hit-and-run caller contacted a supervisor to complain about Coleman’s handling of that call, Coleman was ordered to go to the scene.
Coleman’s tone appeared condescending, and he was “disrespectful in his dialogue and demeanor” when speaking with two sergeants after the incidents, records show.
Oscar Cruz Jr.
A San Antonio police officer criminally charged this year for firing his weapon at two juveniles was handed a second indefinite suspension in August by the department.
Oscar Cruz Jr. faces a felony charge of deadly conduct-firearm, after investigators said he fired his gun at the teens as they ran away from him in the 9500 block of Five Forks in March 2020.
The incident was captured on Cruz’s body-worn camera, according to past disciplinary records.
During the incident, Cruz could be heard telling the juveniles “stop running or I will f—ing shoot you.”
Cruz is tentatively scheduled to go to trial Nov. 8, court records show.
He was originally handed an indefinite suspension in 2020.
An attorney representing Cruz appealed the officer’s most recent indefinite suspension on Aug. 22, records show.
Jose Camacho
A contemplated indefinite suspension for Officer Jose Camacho was later shortened to 30 days, records show.
An internal affairs review of Camacho’s work attendance revealed that he left work early every day during the 30-day time period examined.
Camacho, who was on limited duty status at the West Substation, was assigned work hours of 10:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m.
The review found Camacho signed off between 4:24 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. each work day, without using personal leave to end his shift early, suspension records show.
Camacho began serving his suspension Sept. 22 and will remain suspended through Oct. 21.
Randall Smith
SAPD Captain Randall Smith was suspended one day after failing to stay in the testing area after being selected for a random drug screening in late June.
“Captain Smith did not remain under observation while the testing agent was waiting for him to provide a specimen,” records show.