SAN ANTONIO – A Bexar County sheriff’s deputy was suspended, and a telecommunications specialist was fired for their actions in separate incidents where an inmate escaped the Bexar County courthouse, discipline records obtained by KSAT Investigates show.
Both incidents happened in 2024.
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In June 2024, Bexar County Sheriff’s deputies spent about 12 hours tracking down a man who escaped custody from the Bexar County courthouse.
Pedro Andres Escamilla was in court for a hearing on charges of possession and criminal trespassing.
Suspension records show Deputy Arnold Rogers learned Escamilla had a warrant, and put handcuffs on him, but not behind Escamilla’s back as required. Records show Rogers also did not put leg cuffs on him.
BCSO said Escamilla was seen running away from the courthouse along the River Walk. They found him later that night near Interstate 35 and Cameron Street.
Rogers was initially ordered to serve a 45-day suspension, but records show Rogers’ attorney negotiated it down to 10 days.
In October 2024, BCSO said a man convicted of capital murder leapt out of his wheelchair at the Bexar County Justice Center and led law enforcement on a blocks-long chase.
Deputies said they were attempting to load the suspect, identified as Antoine Foster, into a transport vehicle.
Disciplinary records state BCSO fired Veronica Ledesma, a civilian employee, after she failed to communicate details clearly and effectively to deputies during the escape.
Dispatchers from the Bexar Metro 911 Regional Operations Center took control.
A supervisor noted Ledesma failed to give a description of what Foster looked like, what he was wearing, or what direction he was going.
Ledesma failed to give “vital information” to San Antonio police and the San Antonio Fire Department and did not tell VIA in case Foster tried to use the bus, records show.
She also did not put the courthouse on lockdown “if warranted,” according to the disciplinary records.
A sergeant said Ledesma had trouble getting access to footage of Foster’s escape, discipline records show.
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.
