SAPD officer accused of rape

Officer Jackie Len Neal was accused in a similar complaint a few years ago, but it was dropped. Officer Jackie Len Neal was accused in a similar complaint a few years ago, but it was dropped. Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close SAPD officer accused of rape 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A San Antonio police officer was arrested Saturday and accused of raping a 19-year-old woman on the South Side early the day before. At a news conference Saturday, police said the officer has been accused of sexual assault before.

Jackie Len Neal, 40, was arrested on a charge of felony sexual assault, said Officer Javier Salazar, a Police Department spokesman. Neal was released on $20,000 bond.

Police said he will continue to receive pay, pending an indictment.

Neal is accused of handcuffing and raping a woman he pulled over while on duty around 2 a.m. Friday.

Police Chief William McManus said a different woman made a similar complaint against Neal a few years ago. The date of that incident was not immediately available.

McManus said that woman later refused to cooperate in a police investigation, so it wasn't pursued. There were no consequences for Neal at the time.

McManus said he has asked officers to go back to that woman to see if she would be willing to help in the new investigation.

Neal was suspended in September for three days for dating an 18-year-old member of the Police Explorer program about two years ago. The program is meant to encourage young people to consider a career in law enforcement.

Officers are forbidden from fraternizing with members of the program for people 14 to 21 years old .

Soon after, Neal was transferred to a night shift on the South patrol, police said.

On Friday morning, according to an arrest warrant affidavit, Neal allegedly tailed a woman until she pulled over on Betty Street and stepped out of her vehicle. He turned on his overhead lights and requested that she get back inside.

The woman complied with the order but left her door open, the report said.

Neal told the woman he was following her because the car she was driving was reported stolen, the woman told police. She showed the officer a sales slip for the recently purchased car. Officers could not confirm whether the vehicle was ever reported stolen.

Neal asked the woman to get out of the vehicle so he could pat her down, according to the affidavit. The woman said she felt uncomfortable and asked that a female officer pat her down, but her request was ignored.

During the pat-down, the affidavit said, Neal groped the woman, placed her in handcuffs and moved her to the back of his patrol car.

The document said he then raped her and instructed her not to tell anyone.

It did not appear as though Neal made any attempt to conceal his identity, police said.

A GPS tracking system in Neal's patrol car confirmed it was parked on Betty Street at Janice Lavon Drive for about 18 minutes Friday, according to police.

McManus said SAPD vehicles are outfitted with cameras that require a hard drive to function. Neal's patrol car did not have a hard drive at the time of the alleged assault. McManus said Neal would have been aware that the system was not functioning.

Had it been working properly, the surveillance equipment would have recorded activity in the front and rear of the patrol car.

Neal was off-duty when SAPD and Special Victims Unit detectives pulled him over around 2 a.m. Saturday and arrested him, SAPD spokesman Officer Roger Zuniga said.

McManus said he has asked FBI to join the investigation because of a possible civil rights violation.

“I can't express in words how disappointed and angry I am about this. I am at a loss for words,” McManus said. “I am outraged. This is a punch in the eye to the Police Department.”

McManus said he makes a point of explaining policies to SAPD recruits on the first and last day of training, hammering home the importance of regulations including a ban on sex while on duty.

“There is no such thing a consensual sex on duty,” he said. “I feel silly even saying that we won't tolerate it. Of course we won't tolerate it. There is no gray area. This is a criminal offense.”

McManus said he wants anyone who may have experienced a similar situation to call SAPD and file a report.

“I praise the victim for having the courage to come forward and having the confidence in the SAPD to handle the case effectively,” he said.

According to Neal's Facebook page, he graduated from high school in Kentucky in 1991, is a graduate of Wayland Baptist University, and served with the U.S. Marine Corps.