SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Police Department released body camera footage on Tuesday which showed the arrest of one of its on-duty officers for suspicion driving while intoxicated.
SAPD officer Paul Fencik was taken into custody on July 31 at the south patrol substation with a blood alcohol content over .15, a Class A misdemeanor, police said.
During roll call, an SAPD sergeant and lieutenant “detected the odor of intoxicants” on Fencik, police said.
After they began the administrative process, Fencik drove his patrol vehicle out of the substation parking lot, SAPD said. The lieutenant then called him back, and Fencik returned right away.
During a search of Fencik’s patrol vehicle, police said they found an open beer container in the center console and a cooler filled with unopened beer.
In the 13-minute long body camera video, which KSAT Investigates obtained on Tuesday, two officers entered an office where Fencik is sitting at a desk.
An officer approached Fencik and began reading his Miranda rights.
“Are you kidding me?” Fencik told the officer at the 34-second mark in the video.
According to the video, after his Miranda rights were read, Fencik was asked if he would submit to a “standardized field sobriety test.” He initially denied driving, but officers told him there was video evidence that showed him driving in a parking lot.
“You’re bringing me to jail?” Fencik asked the officers before the test was administered.
“I don’t know ... I can’t tell you what’s going to happen,” the second officer told Fencik.
The first officer also told Fencik he just needs to be evaluated.
“If I refuse, I go to jail. This is b-------. F------ A, dude,” Fencik said at the 1:51 mark of the video.
More than 15 seconds of silence elapsed between Fencik and the two officers in the bodycam video.
“I’m on the same f------ team. You don’t realize that s---?” Fencik then told the officers, according to SAPD’s body camera video.
“Nobody wants to be here, Paul. I can promise you that,” the second officer told Fencik. “But we do have to make a decision on what you want to do.”
Fencik then agreed to take the test just after the 3:00 mark in the video. He said he didn’t have a choice and called the officers “f------ rats.”
In one sobriety test, the officer asked Fencik to follow a pen with his eyes without moving his head. In the video, Fencik was seen moving his head immediately after the test began.
In a heel-to-toe walk sobriety test, Fencik appeared to stumble several times as he attempted to walk in a straight, imaginary line.
The officer then instructed Fencik to perform the one-leg stand test, which required him to lift one leg approximately six inches off the ground.
The video showed Fencik shaking during the test and nearly lost his balance near the end of the exam.
In other tests, the officer asked Fencik to recite the alphabet from C to P and then count backward from 54 to 41.
According to the body camera video, Fencik did not recite the number 50 and paused before he reached 44.
“OK, Paul, I’m gonna have to do the uncomfortable thing,” one of the officers said to Fencik. “Alright, just turn around.”
The video ended with Fencik being taken into custody.
Fencik, who has been with the department for 18 years, was placed on administrative duty.
According to a KSAT analysis, Fencik is the third San Antonio police officer to face legal trouble in 2025.
“I am deeply disappointed that an officer would choose to drink and drive, endangering the very community we are sworn to protect,” police Chief William McManus previously said in a news release related to Fencik’s arrest. “This behavior represents a clear violation of the public’s trust and the standards of conduct expected from those in our Department.”
SAPD said it was conducting a criminal and administrative investigation into Fencik’s arrest.
McManus previously said he is requesting the investigation be “expedited” so termination proceedings could begin promptly.
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