NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas – Three San Antonio police officers all faced contemplated indefinite suspensions after being accused of criminal wrongdoing in New Braunfels in separate incidents over an 11-month period.
None of them, however, have ever faced criminal charges, an analysis by KSAT Investigates revealed.
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“It was like a punch in the gut. It was almost like getting assaulted again,” said Maria, the former live-in girlfriend of SAPD Officer John Sylvester, who avoided assault charges after the Guadalupe County Attorney’s Office declined to pursue the case last summer.
Maria, who asked that KSAT not use her last name or show her face, suffered injuries during a physical confrontation with Sylvester and his ex-wife outside of his New Braunfels home in March 2024.
Even though Sylvester was handed a contemplated indefinite suspension by SAPD, which was later shortened to 45 days, he was not criminally charged.
“New Braunfels Police Department just wanted to cover one of their own and help out one of their own. And it didn’t matter that they saw everything with their own eyes,” said Maria, who slammed NBPD’s decision to file the case with prosecutors instead of arresting Sylvester at the scene.
Fractured relationship boils over in driveway
Maria, a former SAPD dispatcher, told KSAT her relationship with Sylvester had fractured last year, in part, because the officer had placed an Apple AirTag tracking device in the vehicle the couple shared.
After a verbal dispute with Sylvester at his home last March, Maria said she gathered a few belongings, removed the tracking device from her car and, along with her teenage daughter, left to spend the night at a Seguin hotel.
The next morning, Maria said she woke up to find her car was no longer at the hotel.
She told KSAT she suspects Sylvester used her daughter’s phone location to find the vehicle and drive it back to his New Braunfels home in the middle of the night.
After Maria and her daughter took a rideshare back to Sylvester’s home, Maria said she found her car backed up to Sylvester’s garage door with his truck parked closely in front of it.
“Like bumper to bumper with my vehicle, so it would be hard to get out,” Maria said.
After Maria said she grabbed more of her belongings and attempted to leave, “John came outside and he told me to get out of the car, and I told him, ‘No.’ He reached in multiple times and turned my vehicle off.”
Maria told KSAT she turned the car back on and bumped into Sylvester’s truck while trying to drive out. At that point, the altercation turned physical.
Sylvester took Maria’s phone and purse, pulled her from the vehicle and slammed her to the ground, holding her there for approximately 10 minutes, SAPD discipline records state.
NBPD officers who arrived at the scene found Sylvester sitting on top of Maria and ordered him to stop pinning her to the ground, the discipline records state.
Maria told KSAT that at one point, Sylvester’s ex-wife kicked her while Maria tried to get her purse from the woman.
Maria shared photos with KSAT taken after the altercation showing that she suffered bruises and scratch marks.
As a result of the lengthy physical struggle, Maria said it was difficult for her to walk for several days.
NBPD officers separated all three adults and then met with Maria near a neighboring school to take photos of her injuries and to get a statement from her, she told KSAT.
Officers, however, did not arrest Sylvester or his ex-wife. Instead, they filed the case with the Guadalupe County Attorney’s Office.
Guadalupe County Attorney Dave Willborn confirmed in a written statement to KSAT that the case was submitted to his office in June 2024.
“A decision was made to not proceed because there was insufficient evidence to prove the assault allegations against either suspect and the elements of theft (specifically the intent to deprive the owner of their property permanently or for so extended a period of time that a major portion of the value or enjoyment of the property is lost to the owner) were not present. For those reasons, the cases were declined on July 17, 2024. After your inquiry, I reviewed the cases personally and am of the opinion that the original decision not to proceed was correct. There is no question that the suspects engaged in questionable conduct, but it is not conduct that meets the elements of a provable criminal case,” Willborn wrote.
Maria confirmed she participated in about 10 counseling sessions at the Crisis Center of Comal County. After more than a year after the incident, she said she is finally able to speak about what happened.
“Turns out, I didn’t even know who he was,” Maria said. “He did things I never thought he was capable of doing. So, I don’t think he should be in that position or hold the title of being a peace officer in the State of Texas or anywhere.”
SAPD officials confirm Sylvester is still employed with the agency and is currently assigned to the West Patrol C-shift.
Sylvester sued Maria in Guadalupe County Small Claims Court in August. Court records show he was seeking $18,000.
The suit sought damages to his garage door and truck from the altercation outside his home and asked for reimbursement for car payments made on behalf of Maria as well as for phones given to Maria and her daughter.
A judge later awarded Sylvester $3,300 plus court costs, a court official confirmed to KSAT.
Maria said the judgment was for payments he made on her car that covered the previous year.
Sylvester did not respond to an email from KSAT seeking comment for this story.
Find resources for victims of domestic violence here.
2 other SAPD officers avoided criminal charges in New Braunfels
SAPD officer Jeremias Duque Jr. was fired in November 2023, months after New Braunfels police said the off-duty officer groped a woman and damaged a New Braunfels home while intoxicated.
Duque, while at a home in July 2023, placed his hand on the breast of the homeowner’s mother after asking her if her breasts were real, SAPD 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 then started a fight with a man at the party who 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 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 previously confirmed to KSAT.
The spokesman told KSAT this month that NBPD responded to 10 total calls for service involving Duque from 2023 to 2024, “most of which were for verbal disturbances or physical disturbances where he was either determined to be the victim or the other parties declined to prosecute.”
Duque was given an additional 10-day suspension by SAPD last summer for improperly accessing a criminal background system, city discipline records show.
Duque, while working at SAPD’s substation in the 3600 block of E. Houston St., accessed the Criminal Justice Information System and later shared criminal background information and a mugshot with a civilian, records show.
The civilian was a customer in a dispute with another person over vehicle repairs, according to records.
Duque will serve the suspension if his indefinite suspension is overturned, an SAPD official previously confirmed to KSAT.
A contemplated indefinite suspension for SAPD Officer Alexander Mena was shortened to 45 days in October after he signed a last-chance agreement to stay with the department.
Mena consumed up to 13 alcoholic drinks while out on the town in New Braunfels last June, SAPD discipline records state.
NBPD officers were then called to his apartment after receiving reports that Mena was walking around the complex’s parking lot with a gun in his hand, records show.
While an NBPD officer tried to resolve a dispute between Mena and his ex-girlfriend, Mena told the officer, “I’m not talking to you,” records show.
Officers declined to criminally charge Mena after finding no evidence of a physical disturbance, an NBPD spokesman confirmed to KSAT.
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.
