SAN ANTONIO – Part of a fired San Antonio Police officer’s argument to get his job back was there were “politics at play” — some of them, apparently, close to home.
Thomas Villarreal was fired and criminally charged over a Jan. 2020 arrest, in which he and another former SAPD officer, Carlos Castro, kicked in a door and repeatedly punched a man, Eric Wilson, who had walked away from an attempted traffic stop.
Attorneys for the City of San Antonio said Wilson spent three days in the hospital and had a broken nose and orbital bone. His drug and evading arrest charges from that night were later dismissed.
The two former police officers had faced up to life in prison under aggravated assault by a public servant charges, but both their cases were eventually dismissed following a mistrial in Oct. 2023.
The pair’s attorneys had learned three expert witnesses for the state had stated during pretrial interviews that the officers were constitutionally justified in arresting Wilson and were justified in entering Wilson’s residence and searching his car.
Both men are now trying to appeal their indefinite suspensions. Villarreal’s two-day arbitration hearing finished Wednesday.
READ MORE: No longer facing up to life in prison, fired SAPD officer tries to win back his job
Villarreal’s attorney has argued his actions were justified and that he was “scapegoated.” SAPD Chief William McManus flatly denied he fired Villarreal for political reasons.
An advisory board of civilians and police officers had recommended up to a five-day suspension and McManus was apparently considering a 15-day suspension.
However, Villarreal was given an indefinite suspension in early July 2020. That was about six weeks after the murder of George Floyd, which spawned protests against police brutality and calls for reform around the country, including in San Antonio.
‘Aunt’ Councilwoman
Villarreal said he also learned Wilson was connected to a then-city council member, whose name he did not recall.
“At some point, don’t recall exactly when, but we did find out that he — his aunt was part of city council at the time. I don’t remember what — I think, Precinct 2. I don’t remember exactly what, but she was part of city council,” Villarreal testified during his hearing Wednesday.
“I know this through other individuals, other officers and some type of brass within our unit that got this information. And it was relayed to me. And that’s when we looked it up and, sure enough, they were related. I don’t remember exactly how they’re related. I believe that that’s his aunt,” he said.
However, Villarreal said he did not have personal knowledge of the connection, nor did he provide evidence of one during Wednesday’s hearing.
The District 2 councilwoman from that time, Jada Andrews-Sullivan, did not immediately respond to a text message or voicemail from KSAT on Wednesday asking whether she was related to Wilson.
However, her former chief of staff, Lou Miller, said he was unaware of any connection between the two. He also said Andrews-Sullivan had not flexed any political muscle over Wilson’s arrest.
Trio of SAPD Academy instructors sign off on Villarreal’s actions
Villarreal’s attorney called only three witnesses for the former officer’s defense. All of them are current or former SAPD Training Academy instructors who prosecutors consulted during Villarreal’s criminal case.
They found he had not crossed a line.
Retired SAPD officer James McDonald taught arrest, search, and seizure; the constitution; and the criminal code of procedures at the academy before retiring in Nov. 2023. He said he testified during a fact-finding hearing that Villarreal and Castro “did have exigency to get inside the house.”
McDonald said an SAPD unit’s emergency lights were already going off when Wilson got out of his car in his own driveway, but he still walked away despite the lights and officers’ telling him to stop.
McDonald also mentioned a smell of marijuana from the car, though it was not clear after Tuesday’s hearing whether officers had noticed a smell before or after the arrest.
“So now it changes over to, ‘Is he going inside to destroy evidence?’” McDonald said.
Officer Juan Mandujano, one of the academy’s lead tactics instructors, and Officer William Badders, who was an instructor on the mechanics of arrest for two years at the academy, both signed off on the use of force.
“From what I saw, from this officer, it didn’t appear, in my opinion, that it (the use of force) was....excessive,” said Mandujano, who had also instructed Villarreal at the academy.
The city’s outside counsel, Donna McElroy, suggested the instructors had not had all the facts. She also noted a fourth instructor, who teaches use of force at the academy, had testified during the criminal case that it had not been a reasonable use of force.
Neither side brought that fourth instructor in for questioning during the hearing. But the city had former Dallas Police Department Deputy Chief Craig Miller, analyze the case.
Miller testified on Tuesday that Villarreal and Castro didn’t have enough to go after Wilson once he went inside the house.
“This was not Jack the Ripper,” Miller said. “This was a person who upset the officers because he didn’t comply with their request, and he went into his home without their permission, and he wouldn’t come out when they requested him to come out. And the officers were frustrated.”
Villarreal declined KSAT’s request for an interview at the end of his hearing.
Though the in-person hearing is done, the arbitrator’s decision on whether Villarreal will get his job back likely won’t come for at least two months.
Castro’s arbitration is still pending.
More related coverage on KSAT: