SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio police detective fired more than two years ago following a family violence arrest continued his quest to win reinstatement Tuesday after his arbitration hearing kicked off following multiple delays.
Ex-detective Daniel Pue, 37, sat silently and occasionally wrote notes for his attorney as the city described the SAPD veteran as a “documented liar.”
Pue was arrested in January 2019 after Bexar County Sheriff’s deputies responded to his far West Side home to a 911 call for an assault in progress.
Multiple deputies testified Tuesday in a downtown conference room that the woman Pue was accused of repeatedly punching in his front yard, his mistress of five years, had visible injuries to her face when they arrived.
Crime scene photos displayed at the hearing show the woman with blood dried on her chin and coming out of her swollen nose.
KSAT 12 is not naming or identifying the woman, since she is a victim of family assault.
“She was just crying and bleeding. And I looked at him. And as I looked at him he started walking towards his door. I said ‘hey come here.’ And he said ‘nope,’” testified BCSO Deputy Johnny Rodriguez, who added that he then kicked in Pue’s front door and threatened to use his stun gun on him, since Pue would not comply with his commands at first.
Attorneys representing the city also played a 911 call, during which one of Pue’s neighbors describes Pue repeatedly hitting the woman with a combination of punches and back of the hand slaps.
Pue’s attorney objected to the call being played, which the arbitrator overruled.
The same attorney also objected to the woman being described as a victim, shortly after a large photo of her bleeding from the face had been shown. Attorneys for the city and witnesses were instructed to begin calling her “female” or by her first name only.
Pue was issued an indefinite suspension in July 2019 based on allegations that he broke rules regarding the truthfulness of members, responsibility to serve the public, use of intoxicants and waste or conversion of city equipment.
By the time he was fired, however, the family assault charge had been dismissed. The charge was tossed out by a special prosecutor in May 2019, after Pue completed an anger management class, according to court records and previous statements made by the special prosecutor.
Pue’s attorney attempted to change the public narrative of his client’s arrest, claiming that the victim was hurt while trying to get into Pue’s home.
Crime scene photos, however, showed signs of a possible struggle outside the home, including a pot for a plant that had been knocked over.
The city’s first witness, a fellow SAPD officer who attended the academy with Pue, testified that Pue walked in on him and Pue’s mistress at her apartment the night before Pue was arrested.
He described Pue as “inquisitive” and eager to know if anything sexual had taken place between the other officer and his mistress.
The officer testified that after his arrest, Pue called him 12 times in a single day from a blocked number.
Pue also texted the officer repeatedly, which prompted the officer to report the situation to internal affairs, according to his testimony.
The arbitration hearing could last the rest of this week. It will likely be several months before the third-party arbitrator decides on whether to reinstate Pue.
The arbitrator, Edward Valverde, has a notable history with the city and SAPD.
Valverde in 2011 ruled that then-SAPD Lieutenant Joseph Salvaggio should be reinstated with full back pay, after Salvaggio had been accused of cheating on a captain’s entrance exam.
Valverde’s ruling set off a years-long court battle that ended with Salvaggio being reinstated and promoted to the rank of captain in 2014.
Salvaggio eventually retired and became the police chief of Leon Valley, where he served until being terminated earlier this year.
Pue was brought in as a reserve officer for the Leon Valley Police Department while Salvaggio was chief. However, the agency’s new police chief said Pue’s commission ended in April.
Pue’s arbitration hearing was postponed twice in 2020 while the city grappled with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.