SAN ANTONIO – An off-duty Bexar County Sheriff's Office was arrested overnight on suspicion of driving while intoxicated.
Joseph Martinez, 27, was taken into custody by the Selma Police Department sometime at 3:33 a.m., according to booking records obtained by the Defenders.
Martinez is the fourth BCSO deputy arrested on criminal charges the past eight days, and the 19th deputy arrested since the start of the year.
Selma police officers found Martinez behind the wheel of a two-door vehicle that had crashed in the 14800 block of Interstate 35 North, according to preliminary details of his arrest.
Officials with the Bexar County Sheriff's Office say Martinez has been on administrative leave for a prior unrelated incidents since April 2018.
The incidents include off duty allegations of hazing involving Martinez in June and August 2017.
BCSO officials in January were also made aware of an incident during which Martinez may have assaulted an inmate.
In March, BCSO received four complaints against Martinez for what was described as a prolonged period of assaults against inmates.
Salazar confirmed that four cases against Martinez, two for assault and two for official oppression, were filed with the Bexar County District Attorney's Office earlier this year.
Salazar said Thursday he was told they are viable cases that may result in indictments.
Salazar said he personally terminated Martinez shortly before the start of the press conference.
After the recent rash of arrests, deputies have lashed out, including at reporters who cover the sheriff's office, claiming that too much information has been made public about each incident.
"We have folks that seem to be under the impression that I'm parading them out in front of the media, and proactively putting out information before it needs to be put out. I maintain that I'm not. I'm actually being responsive to the media. And in fact, I'm legally bound to be open," said Salazar.
Last week, BCSO detention officer Ta-Vian Gloeckler was arrested after investigators said he challenged an inmate to a fight at the jail and lost.
Two days later, Corporal Kailin Kruger, a member of the agency's elite Special Emergency Response Team, was arrested while off duty on a charge of driving while intoxicated.
Kruger was pulled over in the 8200 block of Interstate 10 West before 3 a.m. last Friday, when a San Antonio Police Department officer noticed her driving without her vehicle's headlights on.
Over the weekend, Aida Santos, a part-time detention deputy, was arrested while off duty in the 8500 block of State Highway 151 on a family violence charge.
This week, Salazar said deputies running afoul of the law is not an issue that can be arrested away.
He said the agency is in the process of adding a law enforcement psychologist, who will help with the screening of BCSO applicants.
Salazar said he also hopes to soon finalize the terms of an early intervention program that he claims will help the agency identify objectionable behavioral traits in deputies before they turn into disciplinary issues.