Water pipe bust floods Bexar County DA’s office, damages files

SAN ANTONIO – A busted water pipe at the Cadena-Reeves Justice Center has damaged equipment and files at the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office this week.

District Attorney Joe Gonzales said the busted pipe, a result of the winter storm that caused power and water outages throughout Texas, caused damage on the fifth floor of the building.

Gonzales said the damage was confined to a space used by the Family Violence and Public Integrity and Cyber Crime Divisions.

The damage was discovered on Thursday as the facilities were closed throughout the week. Staff members are now working to remove the water and assess the damage.

“While a small percentage of our physical files were damaged, this does not impact our ability to seek justice,” Gonzales said in a news release Friday. “We maintain a digital copy of all case files so that we can share the evidence with defense counsel. Additionally, on January 1, 2021, we began requiring law enforcement to submit their cases with our office digitally so that we can expedite the review process and use less paper.”

The DA’s office said employees affected by the damage will either work remotely, as they’ve been able to do since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, or in another office space.

Damaged water pipes will be common due to the freezing temperatures that devastated parts of Texas this week. If you are in need of water, SAWS will have bulk water distributions open Friday and throughout the weekend.

Read more:

• ‘We’re coming out of this’: CPS Energy chief says customers seeing relief, but repairs have been challenging
• ERCOT ends emergency conditions as winter weather subsides
• Warmer temperatures and sun thaw out South Texas on Friday