SAPD sergeants indicted in wake of bizarre wreck

A former police sergeant accused of being high on cocaine when he was found wearing just boxers and a T-shirt after his city-owned pickup was wrecked on U.S. 281 has been indicted in connection with the incident.

Former Sgt. Joseph Myers, 52, was one of two sergeants charged with tampering with evidence from the Feb. 2 incident.

Myers, who retired in July after 20 years of service, also was indicted on two counts of misappropriation of funds.

Sgt. Ramiro Garcia, currently on administrative duty, also was charged with tampering. He's appealing a 15-day suspension he already served.

The grand jury chose not to indict Lt. Steven Velasquez, who's fighting a 45-day suspension he served earlier this year for allegations he ordered officers to take Myers home and didn't properly notify command.

Myers' record was unblemished until that day when about 6:45 a.m., officers found his wrecked, abandoned pickup on U.S. 281 between Josephine and Mulberry Streets and he was found causing a disturbance off the highway at East Mulberry.

Myers reportedly was incoherent and couldn't say what happened to his truck, at one point telling officers it was stolen.

Days after the incident, Chief William McManus announced officers were being investigated for covering up the incident because they attempted to take Myers home and took items out of his pickup.

First Assistant District Attorney Cliff Herberg said Myers wasn't charged with driving under the influence of any substance because “No one can put him behind the wheel. But he has a duty to take care of the public's property under his control.”

The two counts of misappropriation of funds stem from allegations that he is responsible for damage to the city truck and that he also forged detectives' names to steal $7,000 from the fund used to pay informants.

As for the tampering with evidence, Myers allegedly tried to use water from one of the toilet pipes in his urine sample that was ordered the morning of the incident.

More Information Related document Read the indictments

Myers' attorney didn't return a call for comment.

The indictments are the latest development in what some say was a chaotic and confusing scene that led to a premature outcry of a conspiracy not supported by facts that ultimately has maligned the names of officers who simply followed procedure.

In total, two lieutenants, five sergeants and one patrol officer were investigated by Internal Affairs. Of those, McManus suspended Velasquez, Garcia and Sgt. Andrea Klauer.

Klauer, who agreed to a five-day suspension, was accused of not taking charge of the scene as a ranking officer, according to her suspension letter.

All three adamantly denied any wrongdoing, according to union president Mike Helle and Velasquez's attorney Ben Sifuentes Jr.

Myers didn't smell of alcohol and they had no probable cause to arrest him, both Helle and Sifuentes said. The officers followed procedures to release the person to a responsible party, Helle said.

Plus, the items Garcia removed — pornography and beer — shouldn't have been thought of as “evidence” because there was no criminal case, Helle said.

The urine sample was ordered for administrative purposes only, Helle stressed.

“That is a complete, utter frivolous indictment,” Helle said. “That is just ridiculous. They had no criminal offense. It's distorting the facts to create a criminal case.”

In a blistering and lengthy letter to McManus, Sifuentes accused some officers of lying to internal affairs to fit the conspiracy accusation and said witness statements and radio transmissions refute some assertions made about that night.

Sifuentes said Wednesday that the lack of indictment shows Velasquez did his job properly.

“He did nothing wrong on that day,” Sifuentes said. “He was following written procedures and following training on probable cause. If we can no longer rely on the Constitution in guiding our decisions we are in sad shape.

SAPD spokesman Sgt. Javier Salazar said that because the case is under appeal, it would be inappropriate to discuss any details.

The San Antonio Express-News requested the investigation documents, which usually are public, but the attorney general's office ruled in favor of the city's request to withhold most of the file, including the explanations from those under investigation.

mmondo@express-news.net