SAN ANTONIO – A 55-year-old man who was shot and killed by San Antonio police Tuesday allegedly stalked, harassed and assaulted his ex-girlfriend, according to police reports and an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by KSAT 12 News.
Darrell Wayne Zemault Sr. was shot by an SAPD officer on Tuesday after he allegedly grabbed the service weapon from the holster of another officer he was wrestling with, Police Chief William McManus said at the scene.
Three plain-clothed officers and two in uniform went to a home in the 100 block of Willee to serve two domestic violence arrest warrants on Zemault when he refused to be arrested and allegedly hit an officer with a can of paint, McManus said.
Zemault’s daughter disputed the allegations of domestic violence against him.
One of the warrants the officers tried to serve on Zemault involved a July 3 incident in which police were called to a home in the 500 block of North San Felipe, where his ex-girlfriend lives.
According to the warrant, the woman arrived at her home when Zemault ran to her vehicle from a neighbor’s yard and started accusing her of cheating on him with another man.
Zemault allegedly grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out of the vehicle, saying he was going to kill her.
He dragged her to his vehicle, but she freed herself and fell to the ground, suffering “visible injuries” to her right arm, according to a police officer who wrote the affidavit.
She threw her purse over a fence, but he went and got it and fled in his vehicle, the document states.
Three additional San Antonio police reports obtained by KSAT detail more alleged domestic violence troubles between Zemault and his ex-girlfriend.
On October 1, 2019, the ex-girlfriend went to SAPD’s West Patrol Substation and told police that she was following up on a case regarding threats she filed involving her and Zemault.
She told police that they started dating in March 2019, but she broke it off a few months later because he was addicted to drugs and she couldn’t handle it.
She said since the breakup, Zemault would call and text her up to 80 times a day, the report said. She even changed her phone number and said that he somehow got a hold of it and started contacting her again.
On Feb. 7, police were called to the ex-girlfriend’s home for a terroristic threats call.
When an officer arrived, he approached Zemault, who was loading items out of a truck and onto a sidewalk.
Zemault said his ex-girlfriend told her to bring the items to her house, and when he arrived, he said she was yelling and started an argument.
According to the report, the woman told the officer that Zemault had been harassing her constantly through text messages and phone calls, including a text message that said, “I’ll kill you.”
Police were called again on April 7 to the same home for a call regarding a burglary of a vehicle.
The ex-girlfriend told police that Zemault showed up at her home and took the oil cap and the oil dip stick from her vehicle, telling her that removing those items would prevent her from driving her car. The suspect left. The woman told police that she recorded incident on her cellphone.
About two months later, June 27, police were dispatched to the woman’s home for a theft in progress call.
The ex-girlfriend told an officer that was backing out of her driveway when Zemault appeared on the driver’s side window and said he wanted to talk with her. She said they had nothing to talk about and she wanted nothing to do with him.
He got upset and removed her glasses that she was wearing.
Zemault fled the scene and the woman was told to follow-up with officers.
Celeste Brown, a family friend of Zemault, said Wednesday afternoon the reports paint an inaccurate picture of the 55-year-old.
Brown, who referred to Zemault as “like a second father” to her, said he was married for 30 years and did not have a single incident of domestic violence.
“If he was in love with the love of his life for 30 years, all I would say is look at that,” said Brown, who added that Zemault’s wife passed away in 2016.
“It’s really difficult to grieve when there’s a lack of clarity of how it went down,” said Brown, who demanded that body-worn camera footage of the shooting be released by SAPD.