SAN ANTONIO – A Bexar County sheriff’s deputy who was arrested twice in 2020 for accusations of domestic violence has been fired, according to disciplinary records obtained by the KSAT 12 Defenders.
John Paul Garza received two termination notices from the sheriff’s office in February, the records showed.
Recommended Videos
Garza was first arrested on Feb. 5, 2020, when he was taken into custody after he allegedly assaulted his spouse. As he was in the process of getting terminated, Garza was arrested again on Dec. 28, 2020.
In that incident, Garza allegedly violated his protective order by assaulting the woman again, knocking her to the ground and kicking her in the face. Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said that the woman’s clothes were “soiled with blood” after the assault.
“This assault the second time around was a lot more violent than the first,” Salazar said after Garza’s second arrest.
Garza had not performed any duties as a deputy since his first arrest and was on unpaid administrative leave until his termination.
Garza, who had been with the agency since 2012, had a history of disciplinary issues.
In May 2013, a Bexar County Jail inmate informed the agency’s Professional Standards & Integrity division that Garza had assaulted him while walking him back to his cell six months earlier, leading the inmate to then strike Garza.
It was a different version of the events than Garza had previously described to BCSO officials.
A subsequent investigation determined that Garza had not only used “unnecessary force” on the inmate but he then lied during a polygraph test when asked about the incident, BCSO records show.
A proposed 30-day suspension for Garza was later reduced to 10 days following a grievance hearing and he remained with the agency, records confirm.