CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A Corpus Christi police officer has been indicted on three theft-related charges after investigators learned he used a credit card connected to a police nonprofit in 2025.
The Corpus Christi Police Department (CCPD) said Travis Haecker, 32, turned himself in to Kendall County Sheriff’s deputies on Dec. 12, 2025. He was booked into the Kendall County jail on the following charges:
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- Theft of property from a nonprofit organization, a state jail felony
- Credit card or debit card abuse, a state jail felony
- Misapplication of fiduciary property, a misdemeanor
According to Nueces County court records, Haecker was indicted on the following three updated charges on Feb. 5:
- Theft of property between $2,500 and $30,000, a third-degree felony
- 2 counts of credit card or debit card abuse, a state jail felony
KRIS-TV in Corpus Christi reports that Haecker’s misdemeanor charge will not go before a grand jury. The misdemeanor is a misappropriation of fiduciary property between $750 and $2,500, records show.
Haecker is expected to make his next court appearance on March 19.
Accused of credit card abuse
According to an arrest affidavit previously obtained by KSAT, Haecker’s indictment stems from his alleged use of a credit card that belonged to the Corpus Christi Citizens Police Academy Alumni, Inc., a nonprofit organization.
Haecker, who the warrant identified as the liaison between CCPD and the nonprofit, was one of several tasked with coordinating a “motorcycle rodeo competition” event in June during the 2025 Texas Police Games. The Texas Police Games are an annual, Olympics-inspired showcase among law enforcement agencies statewide.
Another officer began receiving donations intended for the motorcycle rodeo competition. As the officer received donations via check, police said Haecker was in charge of depositing those checks into the organization’s account at a Corpus Christi-area bank.
According to the affidavit, the nonprofit learned of several unauthorized withdrawals made between April 25, 2025, and May 14, 2025 — weeks before Corpus Christi hosted the Texas Police Games in June.
Investigators found six ATM withdrawals totaling $1,200, each $200, made with the nonprofit’s credit card: three in Austin, two in Corpus Christi and one in New Braunfels.
They also obtained surveillance video from the Corpus Christi ATM that showed Haecker making the two withdrawals, authorities said.
Haecker meets with investigators
Haecker was interviewed by two CCPD detectives on Sept. 23, 2025. Regarding the organization, Haecker described himself as the “primary point of contact for financial matters,” the affidavit stated.
When asked about the ATM withdrawals, he told police he was the nonprofit’s only cardholder and that the cash was intended for a DJ he had in mind to play at the motorcycle rodeo competition.
On Dec. 11, 2025, detectives spoke to the DJ, who was originally set to perform at the motorcycle rodeo competition but did not due to health issues.
The DJ would have made $400 total over three days of work, according to the affidavit.
The organization, Haecker said, elected to hire a different DJ who was paid via check.
Investigators then asked Haecker about where the $1,200 in cash was. According to his arrest warrant, Haecker said he “thought that he had given it to someone else” before saying he “put the cash in an envelope and placed it in the trailer” while he was in Austin for training.
After the ‘Games’ ended
Haecker told police that there was some money “left over” from the rodeo and decided to donate it to the nonprofit under the name “Vince Ortiz,” a Corpus Christi police officer killed while working a funeral procession in 2024 and the inspiration behind the nonprofit.
According to bank statements obtained by investigators, Haecker made $1,850 worth of deposits into the nonprofit’s bank account on Aug. 5, 2025 — several weeks after the Texas Police Games concluded. That money came from donation checks Haecker found “in his clipboard,” police said.
When questioned about the original $1,200 in ATM withdrawals, Haecker told detectives that he could pay the cash back “since he is the one that misplaced it.”
In the affidavit, investigators said Haecker has yet to find or reimburse those funds.
Detectives also asked Haecker about the more than $500 charged to the nonprofit’s credit card made on an online gambling site. In the affidavit, Haecker chalked up the purchases as a “mistake by using the wrong card,” but he will “pay it back if he has to.”
The affidavit also alleged Haecker made a purchase with the card at a local vape shop. According to a Dec. 12 interview with investigators, the nonprofit’s president said Haecker was not given permission to make purchases on the online gambling site or the vape shop.
According to a search of Haecker’s Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) file, he worked for the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office — the agency that booked him into jail on Dec. 12, 2025 — for five years (2014-2019). He joined CCPD in February 2020, records show.
Haecker remains on administrative leave.
Gas card allegation
According to KRIS’ reporting, a CCPD supervising auditor discovered “unusual” purchases on a department-issued gas card used by Haecker, including the July 5, 2025, purchase of 21 gallons from a Corpus Christi gas station.
Other “suspicious” gas purchases included Haecker buying more than 32 gallons for a CCPD-issued Dodge Charger vehicle that only had “a 19-mile difference in odometer readings” between March 1-2, 2025, the report stated.
Family connection
KRIS also asked the City of Corpus Christi for emailed correspondence between CCPD Chief Mike Markle and Gary Haecker, the Bulverde Police Department chief who is also Travis’ father.
According to KRIS, the city forwarded their request to the Texas Attorney General’s Office. City officials believed the release of the emails between Markle and Gary Haecker could compromise Travis Haecker’s criminal investigation.
On March 6, the Texas AG ruled that the city did not need to release correspondence between Markle and Gary Haecker.
KSAT previously reached out to Bulverde PD Chief Gary Haecker for comment on Travis’ arrest twice in December and once more in January.
KSAT asked Gary Haecker for his first comment following Travis’ February indictment on Friday afternoon. The Bulverde PD chief has yet to respond to the station’s four total requests.
More coverage of this story on KSAT: