NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas – A San Antonio police officer was fired late last year, months after records showed he groped a woman and damaged a home in New Braunfels while intoxicated.
Officer Jeremias Duque Jr., a four-year veteran of SAPD, was handed an indefinite suspension on Nov. 30.
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Duque, while at a home in New Braunfels on July 23, placed his hand on the breast of the homeowner’s mother after asking her if her breasts were real, city discipline records state.
The woman told New Braunfels police that Duque’s actions were offensive. After a witness confronted Duque, Duque said “he could do whatever he wanted,” records show.
Duque, who was off-duty and described in discipline records as intoxicated, then started a fight with the woman’s son after the man confronted Duque about the groping incident, records show.
Duque swung at the man five times during the altercation, missing each punch, and was punched by the man three to four times, witnesses told New Braunfels police.
After Duque and the man were separated, Duque then broke a window at the residence with his hand and then ripped a door curtain on the back door while forcing his way back into the home, records show.
A New Braunfels police officer called to the scene described Duque as “too intoxicated to even talk to, honestly” and that he had slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, a strong odor of alcoholic beverage emitting from him, and was unable to maintain his balance, records show.
The officer later told an SAPD supervisor that Duque was very disrespectful and “that is absolutely, in no shape, way or form, how an officer should be acting outside of uniform,” records show.
A person at the residence told NBPD that Duque had likely consumed more than six beers, four to five “jello shots,” and at least two “pickle shots,” a mixture of hard alcohol and pickle juice.
After Duque was taken to an emergency room, he cursed at staff and refused to follow hospital procedures, records show.
NBPD listed Duque as a suspect for both indecent assault and criminal mischief. He was not criminally charged, however, because the woman whose breast he touched and the owner of the home both declined to pursue charges, an NBPD spokesman confirmed to KSAT this week.
SAPD Chief William McManus, in Duque’s signed indefinite suspension paperwork, stated that Duque’s actions render his continuance in office detrimental to effective law enforcement and the needs of the San Antonio Police Department.
Duque was terminated for rules violations, including acts of incompetency, discourtesy to the public, acts showing lack of good moral character, intoxication while off-duty and conduct prejudicial to good order, records show.
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.