SAN ANTONIO – A Bexar County Sheriff’s Office deputy accused of assaulting his spouse earlier this year has been arrested again on another assault charge, according to Sheriff Javier Salazar.
John Paul Garza, 31, has been charged with continuous violence against a family member and violation of a protective order following the incident on Sunday night, Salazar said. Both charges are third-degree felonies that carry bonds of $10,000 each, booking records show.
During a news conference Monday morning, Salazar said Garza assaulted the woman by knocking her to the ground and kicking her in the face, causing the woman’s clothes to become “soiled with blood.”
Garza removed her clothes in an attempt to cover up evidence, Salazar said, and the woman, who was partially clothed, ran to a neighbor’s house for help.
“It’s very disturbing quite frankly,” he said.
Garza left the scene before deputies arrived, the sheriff said. Authorities found Garza at another location hours later, and booking records show he was arrested at 2 a.m. Monday.
The patrol deputy was off-duty at the time of the assault, according to authorities, and was already in the process of being terminated due to an incident involving the same victim in February.
On Feb. 6, Garza was arrested on a charge of assault bodily injury-married after he allegedly assaulted his spouse. When officers arrived at the scene in North Bexar County the night before, Garza had already fled, BCSO said.
He was later located and placed under arrest, and BCSO announced that he would be placed on administrative leave.
“This assault the second time around was a lot more violent than the first,” Salazar said Monday.
Garza has not performed any duties as deputy since February and has been on unpaid administrative leave.
Salazar said Garza’s internal file included a violent interaction with an inmate in 2013 that Garza instigated and then lied about on a polygraph.
He was hired by the office in July 2012.
This is a breaking news story. It will be updated as more information becomes available.
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