SAN ANTONIO – The controversial, former head of San Antonio’s firefighters union is no longer charged with stalking the current San Antonio fire chief.
Christopher Steele was arrested in May 2024 and accused of trying to scare off Valerie Frausto, who was the San Antonio Fire Department’s interim deputy chief at the time, from applying for the fire chief’s position.
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San Antonio police said Steele pretended to be an “independent investigator” and sent numerous messages to Frausto.
He was indicted in December 2024. However, court records show Steele’s felony case was dismissed on Jan. 21 at the request of Bexar County District Attorney’s Office.
In an emailed statement, the district attorney’s office said a 2025 Court of Criminal Appeals ruling in another case, Owens v. State, affected their ability to prosecute Steele’s case.
The Court of Criminal Appeals’ decision in State vs. Owens clarified how stalking offenses can be prosecuted. The ruling states that the conduct of an individual can be criminalized, but not the content of the communication, as it is protected under the First Amendment. Because the current evidence in the case against Christopher Allen Steele did not amount to proof beyond a reasonable doubt, we could not move forward.
Bexar County District Attorney's Office
Frausto called the dismissal “unfortunate” and wished they had been able to proceed.
“I truly believe it was a stalking case,” Frausto said. “I think he did wrong, and I think he needs to be held accountable.”
Overall, the incident didn’t have any negative impact on Frausto as she took the reins of the department in October 2024. However, she doesn’t think she has heard the last of Steele.
“I don’t know because I never imagined he would have done what he did,” Frausto said. “He wasn’t even in the department, and there was no reason to. We’ve never crossed paths in a bad way. So, I just didn’t understand it then, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it again in the future.”
KSAT has requested comment from Steele and his attorney but have not yet heard back.
Background
Steele left the San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association (SAPFFA) and the San Antonio Fire Department in August 2021, but police said he didn’t leave its politics.
According to court documents, Frausto received texts and emails in March 2024, supposedly from an “independent investigator” hired by someone applying for the fire chief position. The sender said his name was “Frank” and that he had “encountered some concerning allegations,” to which he asked Frausto to respond.
Those claims included Frausto allegedly using her position as fire marshal to order maximum fines be assessed at an ex-partner’s workplace. There were also allegations of physical abuse by Frausto from another former partner.
Frausto later told police she didn’t know what the sender was talking about.
Frausto first received a text message on March 9 telling her to check her email for a message from earlier in the day. In the email, the sender warned that “any information provided and the nature of these allegations will be held in strict confidence and will not be disclosed unless you decide to pursue the Fire Chief position, at which point it may become necessary to further assess these matters.”
Frausto reported the email to the City Attorney’s Office, which sent “Frank” a cease and desist demand on March 13.
The City Attorney’s Office told the sender the city had not retained them to do background checks and that the sender’s email address, which included “GoodHire,” implied they worked for the background check company. However, the city’s demand noted that GoodHire had denied any knowledge of “Frank” or his investigation.
On March 16, “Frank” sent Frausto another email demanding a response within 24 hours “outlining your plan of action to address these allegations” and warning that “the clock is ticking.”
Frausto contacted police that night and made a formal report.
On March 22, she received another message from a new email address showing a news release that the sender claimed would go out to national and local news outlets “within the next few weeks.”
On March 27, Frausto received a text message from a new number showing a template for a similar news release.
Frausto told police she felt intimidated and threatened by the messages and that the sender was trying to coerce her into not applying for the fire chief’s position.
San Antonio police traced the phone numbers back to Steele using Google Voice account information, email addresses associated with those accounts and internet activity information.
The alleged scheme didn’t work. Frausto was sworn in as chief on Oct. 31, 2024. Steele was indicted two months later.
More messages from ‘Frank’
Documents indicate two other members of the SAFD command staff received similar messages from “Frank.” Their messages included allegations they had paid to have union officials followed, been responsible for mental health breakdowns of firefighters, used offensive speech in front of civilian city employees and committed sexual harassment.
However, the other command staff members were not named in the documents, nor do the messages to them appear in the affidavit for Steele’s arrest.
Police also spoke with another SAFD employee who had received a message from “Frank” asking about allegations of abuse in their relationship with Frausto. That employee, who was not eligible for the chief’s job, told police they didn’t know what the sender was talking about as they had never had a relationship with Frausto.
Steele’s tenure as union president
In his 17 years as SAPFFA president, Steele was known for his willingness to go toe-to-toe with City Hall. Most notably, he led the firefighters in a yearslong contract fight that spanned the negotiating table, the courtroom and the ballot box.
Under Steele, the fire union successfully rallied voters in 2018 to put limits on the city manager’s pay and tenure and to give the union the unilateral power to call for binding arbitration during contract negotiations.
However, that victory soon backfired on firefighters. After the union invoked its new power in 2019, a panel of arbitrators handed down a contract that fell short of what firefighters had hoped and for which the union struggled to make up ground in its most recent negotiations.
Steele retired from SAFD as a battalion chief in August 2021 and left the union at the same time.
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