Facebook / Phipps Mayes PLLC
Martin Phipps (center) shown in a holiday photo released by his law firm.
A San Antonio Police Department spokeswoman confirmed the arrest to the Current but had no other details to provide at press time.
Phipps, 51, who also owns posh downtown bar Paramour, is under investigation for harassing a woman with whom he previously had a romantic relationship, according to the daily's report, which notes that he hasn't yet been booked.
Phipps was unavailable for immediate comment on the story, as was Gabe Ortiz, a lawyer who's previously spoken on his behalf.
The Express-News report comes after attorney T.J. Mayes, a former chief of staff to Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, and others at Phipps' firm resigned last month saying it was a hostile workplace. Mayes tweeted that he left because his former boss is "crook and a serial abuser of women."
I resigned from the Phipps firm on 1/11 after I became convinced without a shred of doubt that Martin Phipps is a crook and a serial abuser of women. I turned over appropriate documents to the relevant regulatory agencies.
— T.J. Mayes (@tj_mayes_) January 27, 2021
Mayes subsequently filed complaints against Phipps with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Texas Bar Association.
Phipps' firm, Phipps Deacon and Purnell, has denied Mayes' claims.
"Unfortunately, social media gives anyone the platform to spew unfounded libelous accusations," Ortiz, the attorney who speaks on Phipps' behalf, told Texas Public Radio.
Last week, KSAT news and the San Antonio Business Journal jointly reported that a subsidiary of PNC Bank had repossessed Phipps's private jet because he'd defaulted on $1.7 million owed on the plane.
County Judge Nelson Wolff last week told the Current that he'd asked county attorney Larry Roberson to look into what effect the allegations against Phipps could have on a pending settlement of its opioid suit. However, he emphasized that the inquiry was a civil matter and not a criminal probe into Phipps.
"It's one of the messiest affairs I've seen, and I've been around a long time," Wolff said.
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