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SAPD officer suspended for calling in sick, playing in SAPOA basketball tournament

Officer John Paul McDonald served three-day suspension last month, discipline records show

An SAPD officer was suspended three days in late August, weeks after calling in sick to work and then playing in a union basketball tournament. (Joshua Saunders, KSAT)

SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio police officer who called in sick and did not report to work was later found playing in a San Antonio Police Officers’ Association basketball tournament, discipline records obtained Wednesday by KSAT Investigates show.

Officer John Paul McDonald was suspended three days in late August, weeks after an SAPD sick check conducted at the tournament July 22 revealed that McDonald “was actively playing basketball and clearly not sick,” records show.

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McDonald was suspended for feigning injury or illness and for violating restrictions on activities while sick.

Officers out sick, injured or on limited duty are required to stay home unless it is necessary for them to go to a doctor, hospital or pharmacy, SAPD’s rules and regulations state.

McDonald, a four-year veteran of SAPD, served the suspension between September 19-21, records show.


About the Author
Dillon Collier headshot

Emmy-award winning reporter Dillon Collier joined KSAT Investigates in September 2016. Dillon's investigative stories air weeknights on the Nightbeat and on the Six O'Clock News. Dillon is a two-time Houston Press Club Journalist of the Year and a Texas Associated Press Broadcasters Reporter of the Year.

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