SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio police officer served a 30-day suspension earlier this year after his patrol vehicle reached speeds of over 120 miles per hour and ended in a multi-vehicle crash, discipline records obtained by KSAT Investigates show.
Officer Kirby Painter, a two-year veteran of SAPD, was suspended from Jan. 2 to Jan. 31 for rules violations related to the safe operation of vehicles and engaging in an unauthorized pursuit.
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Painter was on patrol around 4 p.m. on Aug. 3 when he attempted to stop a vehicle along Loop 410 on the city’s North Side, records show.
Tracking data showed Painter’s vehicle reached a speed of 124 mph as the pursuit took place on 410, its access roads and on its on-ramps and off-ramps.
Body-worn camera footage gathered by internal affairs showed the officer steering the vehicle with one hand while holding a cell phone in speaker mode in the other hand, records show.
Painter also removed his seat belt while in motion and was captured intermittently turning on and turning off the patrol vehicle’s emergency lights.
The officer’s vehicle eventually collided with a truck on 410 while its emergency lights were not on, causing a secondary collision with an 18-wheeler, records show.
After the crash, Painter acknowledged that he had been chasing someone and that he “shouldn’t have kept following him,” according to discipline records.
Painter also described the pursuit as a “mistake” and recognized there would be “consequences” for what took place.
San Antonio Police Department rules and regulations prohibit vehicle pursuits for traffic violations.
Painter finished serving his suspension Jan. 31, records show.
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.