click to enlarge San Antonio Police Department
A decision is expected in 30 to 45 days about whether a San Antonio bike cop accused of trying to "prank" female officers by defiling their locker room toilet can return to his job.
City spokeswoman Laura Mayes confirmed that an arbitration hearing in the case of SAPD Officer Michael Luckhurst concluded Thursday. A third-party arbitrator will announce a ruling in the coming weeks, she added.
Luckhurst
made headlines last March after successfully overturning a separate termination for giving a feces-filled sandwich to a homeless man. That decision also came via an arbitration hearing.
The firing Luckhurst is now contesting relates to accusations he and a coworker left un-flushed turds in the women's locker room and smeared a brown substance over the toilet seat.
"We feel we presented sufficient evidence, the strongest of which was Officer Luckhurst's own testimony, to demonstrate that his harassing and crude behavior merited an indefinite suspension," City Attorney Andy Segovia said in a written statement supplied to the
Current.
During testimony Thursday, Police Chief William McManus said Luckhurst's “vile and disgusting" behavior showed he didn't belong on the force,
KSAT reports.
However, under the police union's labor contract with the city, officers are guaranteed the right to appeal firings through an arbitration hearing. According to records obtained by the
Current, 27 of the 40 officers terminated between 2010 and 2019 — roughly two-thirds — were allowed to return to duty after the process.
The most recent of those was SAPD Detective Emanuel Keith, who had his termination for threatening to kill his girlfriend reduced to a 90-day suspension.
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