SAPD: Fired officer wrestled over gun, had powerful painkillers on her during arrest

Ex-officer Stephanie Solis remains on bond in shoplifting case

SAN ANTONIO – Internal Affairs records released by the San Antonio Police Department this week confirm that an off-duty officer charged in a shoplifting case struggled with security over an unregistered handgun and was in possession of multiple powerful painkillers at the time of her arrest.

Stephanie Solis was charged with misdemeanor theft in January, after investigators said she attempted to take $438 worth of perfume from a Macy's store at the Ingram Park Mall.

Solis, a nine-year veteran of SAPD assigned to its Mental Health Unit, received an indefinite suspension in July.

SAPD officials, until this week, had withheld records related to her firing, and instead asked the state attorney general to rule on what should be released.

Among the records SAPD was ordered to release was Solis' 26-minute interview with Internal Affairs in May.

During the interview, Solis said she had no memory of being at the mall the day of her arrest.

"I was not in my right mind," Solis said in the audio recording.

SAPD records show officers found Solis in possession of the painkillers morphine and tramadol as well as prescription pills of clonazepam and zolpidem.

Solis confirmed that she did not have prescriptions for the drugs while being interrogated by Internal Affairs.

Solis' arrest report indicates that she struggled with loss prevention officers, and at one point, a semi-automatic handgun fell from her body.

Solis put her foot on the weapon before security was finally able to gain control of it and her, according to the report.

The discipline paperwork indicates that Solis never registered the weapon with the department and her superiors were unaware that she owned it.

Solis remains free on bond on the shoplifting charge. Her next court appearance is scheduled for February 2019.

Castle Hills police investigated her earlier this year after a woman said Solis and an unidentified man took the woman's wallet and $5,000 worth of perfume.

Court records show Solis has not been charged for the Castle Hills incident or for the drugs found on her during the shoplifting incident.

SAPD records show that the department planned to file the drug possession cases at large with the Bexar County District Attorney's Office.


About the Author

Emmy-award winning reporter Dillon Collier joined KSAT Investigates in September 2016. Dillon's investigative stories air weeknights on the Nightbeat and on the Six O'Clock News. Dillon is a two-time Houston Press Club Journalist of the Year and a Texas Associated Press Broadcasters Reporter of the Year.

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