Police Chief Bill McManus attributed rising crime in San Antonio to the department being understaffed during public safety town hall meeting in March. Credit: Shutterstock / Moab Republic

The San Antonio Police Department has indefinitely suspended an officer without pay over allegations that he chased down his stolen vehicle and shot at the suspect while off duty, according to official paperwork.

Officer Miguel Leal, was suspended indefinitely without pay on March 21 for violating SAPD policies, including improper use of a firearm and putting a civilian vehicle passenger in unnecessary danger, disciplinary records show. An indefinite suspension from SAPD is tantamount to a firing.

Someone called Leal around 4 p.m. Nov. 20, while he was off duty, to let him know his blue Dodge Charger had been stolen at gunpoint at an Autozone in Southwest San Antonio, according to his suspension paperwork.

After Leal heard on police radio that someone had spotted his stolen car and that SAPD units were pursuit, he drove to the scene of the chase with an unidentified civilian passenger in his vehicle, the document states. At the time, he was off duty, not in uniform and not driving a marked police vehicle, the paperwork also notes.

When Leal caught up with his colleagues, he used the vehicle he was driving to block the suspect, disciplinary records show. He then got out, pointed a gun at the suspect and fired a single shot, according to the report.

“Leal did not use sound judgment when he unnecessarily got involved in this incident while off duty, particularly when the incident was being handled by on-duty uniformed officers in marked police vehicles,” the suspension paperwork states.

What’s more, Leal didn’t have a permit to carry the Smith & Wesson gun he used to fire at the suspect, according to the document. The suspension paperwork also reprimanded Leal for bringing along the passenger and the person in harm’s way.

SAPD wrote in the suspension paperwork that the suspect who stole Leal’s Charger was “not using deadly force,” meaning that Leal was in violation of the department’s General Manual when he fired his weapon.

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This article appears in Jun 14-27, 2023.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...