SAPD fecal sandwich incident recirculates online, with new calls for officer's termination

@BBolander: every service industry worker in san antonio should memorize this pig's face and do what they feel @BBolander: every service industry worker in san antonio should memorize this pig's face and do what they feel Photo: Twitter Screengrab Photo: Twitter Screengrab Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close SAPD fecal sandwich incident recirculates online, with new calls for officer's termination 1 / 9 Back to Gallery

A 2016 case involving a local police officer allegedly attempting to give a homeless man a sandwich containing dog feces has recirculated, sparking new conversations online about the state of policing in San Antonio.

The outrage surrounding bike patrol officer Matthew Luckhurst is that he "got his job back," as U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro tweeted on Sunday, after being fired in October 2016. Castro was reacting to KSAT-12's "Broken Blue" series, a Defenders investigative special which delves into SAPD's disciplinary procedures.

"Police unions too often stand by bad officers regardless of how bad they’ve acted. It severely undermines public trust," Castro said in a subsequent tweet.

A day before Castro's tweet, Blavity, a Los Angeles-based media company, re-shared its March 2019 update on the three-year-old story. The tweet by Blavity has been shared widely across Twitter. In response, some users mobilized people to call SAPD to tell the department to fire Luckhurst "again." Locals said they were "disappointed" or "embarrassed" by the news. Others encouraged service industry workers to reciprocate the officer's alleged actions against the homeless person should they notice him in public.

The heightened conversation also garnered reaction from the San Antonio Police Association (SAPOA). The association released a statement on Jan. 10, calling the KSAT-12 series "misleading, sensationalistic, and old reporting."

“This series attacks SAPOA and our members by saying we’re too powerful and that we make it difficult to remove ‘problem’ officers,” Michel Helle, president of SAPOA, said in a written statement. “While I agree we’re a strong organization, when it comes to the discipline and appeals process, our role is simple and transparent: ensure that the rights of officers are observed and protected.”

Though Luckhurst's indefinite suspension, or termination, was reduced to a "lengthy suspension" for the sandwich case through arbitration, he has not returned to work because a second arbitration hearing for another rule violation has not yet occurred, according to SAPD.

RELATED: Police arrest suspect accused of shooting homeless man while attempting to steal his bike

The timeline of events surrounding the feces sandwich case is muddied. Officers reported the dog feces incident occurred on May 6, 2016, while Luckhurst was working bike patrol. Luckhurst testified that he was clearing an encampment on Interstate 35 and Houston Street that was littered with trash. Luckhurst said he picked up a piece of feces with a piece of bread, because he didn't have gloves, and placed it on a tray and told a homeless man to discard it. There were no witnesses to the interaction between the officer and the transient, and no body camera footage was found to back up Luckhurst's account of the story. Officers reported the incident after Luckhurst allegedly bragged about what happened, supposedly as a joke, according to a previous report.

He later challenged the May date, citing medical documents which prevented him from bike patrol duties from April 6 to June 14. The date debacle allowed the arbitrator to void Luckhurst's dismissal due to lack of evidence and uncertainty on the timing.

Chief William McManus discussed the arbitration in May 2019, saying the decision to overturn the dismissal was because Luckhurst wasn't punished within the required 180 days of the alleged incident. The arbitration was based on Luckhurst's timing, despite testimony from officers who were on the scene and had a "clear" timeline of events.

“He is still facing a separate indefinite suspension and we will vigorously defend the decision to terminate him,” McManus said.

The separate incident happened in June 2016, when police say Luckhurst defecated in a woman's restroom stall at the department's Bike Patrol Office and spread a brown, tapioca-like substance on the seat.

Luckhurst is still indefinitely suspended pending the outcome of his upcoming arbitration for the other violation.

Read more of the conversation in the gallery above.

Madalyn Mendoza is a breaking news reporter and general assignment writer. Read her on our breaking news site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @MaddySkye