SAN ANTONIO – A Guadalupe County sheriff’s deputy resigned in May after an incident involving an intoxicated teenage girl at a home in Converse, but has yet to face criminal charges.
Deputy Christopher Locklear resigned via email on May 17, after working for the agency for more than 13 years.
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The resignation came weeks after Converse police and paramedics responded to a home belonging to Locklear’s brother, who is a Converse Police Department officer, on April 25. Emergency personnel called to the home found a 16-year-old girl “incoherent and unconscious” after drinking an unknown quantity of alcohol.
Witnesses later told police that Locklear had taken the girl to the home while he let out his brother’s dogs since his brother was out of town.
After Locklear told one of the teen’s parents that she was possibly intoxicated, witnesses found the teen on the floor just inside the house “laying unconscious in her own vomit,” a Converse PD report states.
Locklear watched and did not assist as two people carried the unconscious teen outside, where she was put into an ambulance and taken to the hospital for possible alcohol poisoning. Locklear refused to talk to a Converse police officer who responded to the scene, records show.
Hospital staff later contacted Child Protective Services due to the severity of the incident, according to the Converse police report.
After the Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office became aware of the incident, investigators questioned Locklear. He admitted that the teen began to throw up and lay on the floor about five minutes after he poured her a Vodka-based mixed drink, records show. Locklear, however, denied that any sexual contact or inappropriateness took place.
Locklear was suspended without pay on May 6 after skipping a meeting with GCSO’s command staff to answer additional questions they had about the incident, records show.
On May 17, Locklear informed a Guadalupe County Sheriff’s lieutenant that he was the subject of a criminal investigation. Later that night, he submitted his resignation.
Providing alcohol to a minor is a Class A misdemeanor, according to the Texas Penal Code. Locklear, however, has still not been criminally charged.
The incident was investigated by the Texas Rangers and then forwarded to the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office, records show.
A spokeswoman for the Bexar County DA said as recently as last week that she could not comment on any matters that may be under investigation or review.
Reached by telephone Aug. 5, Guadalupe County Sheriff Arnold Zwicke declined to comment, stating that there was nothing to add to what had already been released to the Defenders.
Converse city officials initially told the Defenders a copy of the investigative report did not exist. After the Defenders provided the case number, a city official claimed the original request had not been worded correctly.
Though Converse city officials attempted to withhold the report by seeking an opinion from the Texas Attorney General’s Office, the full report was included in Locklear’s Guadalupe County Sheriff’s personnel file, released to the Defenders following a separate open records request.
After the Defenders reached out to Locklear for comment, he responded via email and incorrectly guessed how this reporter became aware of his resignation.
He then referred all other inquiries to a San Antonio-based criminal defense attorney, who did not respond to a phone call seeking comment.