SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio Public Works Department employee fired after his arrest last year on a domestic violence charge will not be reinstated, despite the criminal case being dismissed and a city civil service commission finding he acted in self-defense.
Ezra Aguilar, 21, was terminated from his maintenance worker position late last year, days after he was taken into custody by San Antonio police on a misdemeanor charge of family violence causing bodily injury.
Aguilar’s then-girlfriend told police he slapped her and poured bleach on her face during a dispute in the backyard of his South Side home in the early morning hours of Nov. 17, 2025.
Aguilar called police after the woman used a hammer to smash the front and rear windows of his SUV.
He denied striking the woman. Aguilar said he tossed a bottle at her filled with water and small amount of bleach he used to clean a dog kennel after she picked up a hose and blasted him with water.
“At some point, she got, like, really mad,” Aguilar told KSAT Investigates as he described the backyard altercation.
San Antonio police body-worn camera footage shows both Aguilar and the woman, who KSAT is not naming because she has not been criminally charged, being detained at the scene as officers attempted to sort out what happened.
Aguilar and his parents are seen in the body-worn camera footage repeatedly asking officers to watch the video of the woman smashing the windows with the hammer.
Officers declined to watch the video at the scene. Instead, they took Aguilar into custody while the woman was taken to a hospital by paramedics after she complained that her eyes were burning, the footage shows.
Aguilar told KSAT he self-reported his arrest to Public Works management.
He was given a proposed termination the next day, which became a notice of final termination in early December, city personnel records show.
Aguilar appealed his termination Dec. 12.
On Feb. 13 he appeared in person before the Municipal Civil Service Commission, which ruled that Aguilar’s actions were in self-defense and were not a violation of city policy covering domestic violence.
The commission voted 2-1 to recommend having City Manager Erik Walsh reduce Aguilar’s termination to a suspension for time served, commission records show.
Weeks later, on March 11, prosecutors dismissed the criminal charge against Aguilar, court records show.
Walsh, however, on March 31, went against the commission’s recommendation and upheld the termination.
Both Aguilar and his father Antonio Aguilar, Jr. said Walsh undercut protections for city employees disciplined over false allegations.
Antonio Aguilar Jr. is himself a City of San Antonio employee with 24 years of service.
“Before I’m an employee, I’m a father. Erik Walsh put his name on the paper,” Antonio Aguilar, Jr. said. “The city failed my son. SAPD failed my son.”
Walsh declined a request to be interviewed for this story.
A city spokesman instead released the following statement:
“The City of San Antonio has a zero-tolerance domestic violence policy for its employees and is committed to preventing and reducing domestic violence within our community. The City Manager reviewed the facts of this case, as well as the Municipal Civil Service Commission’s recommendation to reduce the termination to a suspension with time served. However, given the nature of the rule violation, the original termination action was upheld.”
City of San Antonio spokesperson
Seven months after the altercation, the woman has yet to be charged for smashing the windows.
SAPD records show officers opened a criminal mischief investigation on the day of Aguilar’s arrest, but a police spokesperson confirmed to KSAT no arrests have been made.
The criminal mischief incident report states the woman caused $1,000 in damage to the vehicle’s windows.
The woman did not respond to a social media message sent by KSAT seeking comment on the incident.
Walsh has overruled a city civil service commission before
Walsh’s decision on Aguilar is at least the second time in as many years he has gone against recommendations from one of the city’s civil service commissions.
In late 2024, Walsh pulled the application of San Antonio Fire Department applicant Juan Torres Valenzuela.
The decision came after the Fire Fighters’ and Police Officers’ Civil Service Commission determined Torres Valenzuela’s brief use of a psychedelic drug to treat brain cancer was for medical purposes.
After Torres Valenzuela again applied to the department a year later, Walsh again pulled his application.
If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic violence, there is so much help for you. KSAT has a list of resources on its Domestic Violence webpage, which also explains how to identify different types of abuse.
If it’s an emergency, text or call 911. For wrap-around services, including the Battered Women and Children’s Shelter, call Family Violence Prevention Services at (210) 733-8810.
You can also contact the Bexar County Family Justice Center, which also provides wrap-around services at (210) 631-0100.
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.