An officer from the San Antonio Police Department has been fired for allegedly attempting to feed a fecal sandwich to a homeless person, several sources have confirmed.
The City Council was briefed on the matter during a private session Thursday, sources said. The officer reportedly placed fecal matter between two pieces of bread and gave it to a homeless person.
“Firing this officer was the right thing to do,” Mayor Ivy Taylor said in a statement to the San Antonio Express-News. “His actions were a betrayal of every value we have in our community, and he is not representative of our great police force.”
Police Chief William McManus and two boards comprising citizens and police officers have all agreed on an indefinite suspension for officer Matthew Luckhurst, a five-year veteran of the department. For the past year, or so, Luckhurst has been on SAPD’s downtown bike-patrol unit.
The officer told several other officers about what he’d done, said a city official, who asked not to be named because details would be released later in the day. The incident apparently occurred in July and came to light because officers who heard about Luckhurst’s alleged actions were disgusted by them. The incident was “thoroughly investigated,” but officers could not locate the homeless person who allegedly received the sandwich.
The official said the Police Department did not determine the source of the fecal matter in the sandwich.
Reached by telephone, Luckhurst declined to comment, saying that his lawyer advised him not to speak to reporters.
Ben Sifuentes, Luckhurst’s attorney, said that his client joked about giving an excrement sandwich to a homeless person but never actually did so. The “joke” spiraled out of control, he said, and has turned is client into the subject of unfair persecution, Sifuentes said.
Several other council members reacted with outrage Friday.
Councilman Joe Krier called the act “reprehensible.”
“We have very few bad apples in a barrel full of outstanding police and fire,” Krier said. “But it’s our job to get the bad apples out of the barrel as quickly as possible when they do bad things.”
The incident has been investigated and the officer was terminated, said Mike Helle, president of the San Antonio Police Officers Association. He said the officer has retained an attorney. Terminated officers do not receive union representation. Helle said the officer has the right to an appeal, and several sources say he’s likely headed toward arbitration in an attempt to get his job back.
Chief William McManus was not immediately available to comment for this story.
Councilwoman Shirley Gonzales, who represents the area around Haven for Hope — a massive center that provides services for the city’s homeless community — said the officer’s action was “just horrible.”
“I think it’s horrible that people would prey on very vulnerable populations,” she said. “It really is just so disappointing that one of our officers would prey on vulnerable populations. We are always working on behalf of those homeless people and Haven for Hope is still a place to go for any homeless person who needs resources.”
Though truly disgusting, this is unsurprising behavior coming from a cop. Nothing they do should surprise anyone.
Even if he only joked about this fecal sandwich business, he has a sick mind and should stay fired. And if he actually did this, then he should be arrested and charged accordingly.
It seems every day we here of an outrageous act of cruelty or barbarism carried out by our boy’s in blue. Remember, they screen out anyone with a moral compass.
This sh*t will end when WE end it. Donald Trump is a chump. Hillary Clinton is a career criminal. How do you choose between to steaming piles?
I say let’s flush ’em both down the toilet and vote for no one! As Henry has pointed out, voting in this farce of a so-called election is treasonous, stupidity is not an excuse. If your that stupid, just stand over there by the edge of that ditch, they’ll be with you momentarily.
We’re coming down to the wire, October surprise already sprung, and Hillary might lose! Everyone in the Clinton camp wiping their sweaty hands and brows, wondering how a bumbling idiot with a lose tongue could very well be on top at the end of the day.
“Maybe one less line of cocaine, one less doober, could have put us on top but we celebrated too early.” Either way, you know Bill had a good time!
I’m not predicting a Trump win either. It’s a lose-lose proposition for us either way.
To be honest, we’re fed sh*t everyday by the scoop shovel. What’s the issue here?
“We have very few bad apples in a barrel full of outstanding police…”
Those ‘few bad apples’ would be any stupid enough to get caught doing something EXCEPTIONALLY STUPID.
The rest are outstanding, alright… out standing in line with their hands out for their blood mammon payoffs. Rotten to the core.
Yep, Hatr, there’s ANOTHER of those “few bad apples” that we aren’t supposed to judge all the enforcers by. Seems like the barrel is full of rotten ones – the few that aren’t rotten ( if any still exist) better get out of the barrel and flee before we feed the rot inside to the hogs.
Unchallenged.
Retribution WILL be forthcoming, Darzak.
Eventually, anyway.
The ‘officer’ will just head west to Albuquerque and get a new job, mowing down the homeless.
THESE JEHOVAHITES DO THIS SHIT (LITERALLY) WHILE CLAIMING TO BE “CHRISTIAN.”
“Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?”
LORD, IT LOOKS LIKE THE ONLY THING LEFT ARE HOMELESS FOLKS . SHIT SAMMICHES, AND DEVILS IN BLUE UNIFORMS. IM SURE THATS ENOUGH KINDLING FOR ONE HELLUVA BLAZE!!!!!!!