SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio police officer who was found asleep behind the wheel with a blood-alcohol content level nearly three times the legal limit has been fired, according to records obtained by KSAT Investigates.
Rosemary Caudillo received the indefinite suspension, tantamount to firing, in June, four months after she was arrested near Loop 410 and State Highway 16.
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San Antonio police initially said that officers responded to a call about a motorist on the side of the road on Feb. 8. There, they found Caudillo asleep behind the steering wheel of her own vehicle and intoxicated, police said.
Suspension records show that Caudillo refused a breath sample. A warrant was obtained for a blood sample, and her blood-alcohol content level read .232, records state.
She was charged with driving while intoxicated and initially suspended without pay.
“Officer Caudillo‘s actions of being intoxicated in public view and intoxicated to the point that she was rendered unfit to report for duty demonstrated a substantial shortcoming,” her termination paperwork states. “Officer Caudillo’s actions render her continuance in office detrimental to effective law enforcement and the needs of the San Antonio Police Department. The law and sound community expectations recognize that there is good cause for depriving Officer Caudillo of her position.”
She was handed the termination on June 27. Records show she appealed that decision the following day.
A lawyer representing Caudillo stated the fired officer is requesting lost pay and benefits and believes the “punishment is clearly excessive.”
Caudillo, who was assigned to South Patrol, was with SAPD for 17 years.
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