:strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/d1vhqlrjc8h82r.cloudfront.net/08-25-2021/t_b951b1baaae747a88e37a6bb62dbb002_name_cover_still_00000_3)
SAN ANTONIO Days before a dismissed San Antonio police detective is scheduled for arbitration, KSAT 12 Defenders records show he was concerned about negative publicity, claiming that he was detained for domestic violence only because he was a police officer.
The files made available to defense attorneys following a request for public records include body-worn camera footage from SAPD, 911 audio, and images from Detective Daniel Pue’s internal affairs investigation in 2019.
Pue, 37, was arrested at his West Side home in January 2019 after a neighbor told police he saw the detective beat a woman in his front yard.
Pue, who was released months after his arrest, was later charged with family assault, according to Bexar District court records.
He should go before an external referee from Tuesday to be reinstated in the department.
“He just hit her again. And again.”
The 911 operator notified a Bexar County sheriff’s dispatcher around 9 a.m. that he was watching Pue attack the woman and described the beating as a combination of slaps and backhands, according to the audio of the call.
advertisement
“He just hit her again. And again. Oh my god, how sad, “said the caller, who described the victim as bleeding from the nose.
Pue, who was still outside near the woman whose face was covered in blood when the MPs arrived, then went into his house and closed the door, according to his BCSO arrest report.
The off-duty SAPD detective was then taken into custody after a deputy kicked his door and threatened to use a stun gun on him, the report said.
SAPD Detective Daniel Pue speaks to a colleague before he is arrested by BCSO in January 2019. (KSAT)
Pue, unlikely to know that a neighbor had called 911 describing the attack, told a SAPD colleague who was responding to the scene that the woman had tried to break into his home.
“We would not be in this situation if I were not a police officer,” said Pue, who was captured by the officer’s body-worn camera while Pue was handcuffed in the back of a BCSO patrol vehicle.
“I’m in my own house. This crazy girl comes here and I’m the one in trouble, ”said Pue. “Here I am, will come by (expletive) because some (exploratory) want to come to my house.”
advertisement
Pue also repeatedly denied that he was still in a romantic relationship with the woman, claiming the alleged assault was therefore not domestic violence.
“My mug shot will be on the news tonight. I’m not stupid. I know how to do it. My mug shot will be on the news tonight, ”said Pue, whose arrest was reported hours after he was arrested. “I should feel safe in my own house, but I know my own department will cling to it.”
Both the victim and Pue smelled like intoxicants at the time of his arrest, according to the BCSO incident report.
After Pue’s arrest, an officer went on internal affairs and said that he ran into Pue shortly before he was arrested.
The officer, whom KSAT did not name because he was not disciplined in the incident, slept next to the victim in her apartment at around 2 a.m.
“Next, Daniel Pue comes into the bedroom. I am both shocked and embarrassed, ”the official said during the taped interview given to defense attorneys earlier this year.
advertisement
He said Pue referred to the woman as his girlfriend and wanted to know if anything sexual had happened.
The officer told Pue that nothing sexual had happened and left because, according to his interview, he did not want to be involved in their conflict.
According to the official, the confrontation occurred about seven hours before Pue was arrested. He said Pue texted him after the encounter and called him repeatedly, at one point contacting him from a blocked number.
Regarding internal affairs, the officer said he came forward because he did not want to be involved in the situation.
Subsequent investigations by the SAPD revealed that Pue had used his police resources on several occasions to search the woman’s name in the databases of the National Crime Information Center and the Texas Crime Information Center, and a message to her from his cellphone in town had sent.
advertisement
According to the summary of the investigation report, Pue sent her a text message on the same day of his arrest, in which he wrote, “Enjoy your life” and “You wanted (strength) other people. Please. Goodbye. “Pue used his city-issued phone to communicate with her on at least three other occasions in September 2018.
The investigation report says that Pue also searched his city-issued computer for proprietary information about her on NCIC and TCIC.
Pue was suspended indefinitely in July 2019 for alleging he violated the rules regarding member truthfulness, responsibility for public service, the use of intoxicants, and the wasting or conversion of urban gadgets violated.
However, when he was released, the charges of assaulting the family were dismissed. The indictment was dismissed by a special prosecutor in May 2019 after Pue took an anger management course, according to court records and earlier statements by the special prosecutor.
advertisement
Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales pulled out of the case after learning that one of Pue’s relatives was working for him.
“You know, they’re on your team. They testify for you. They go to the same social events. You think you work for the same things, don’t you? ”Said Donna Coltharp, Associate Professor at St. Mary’s University School of Law and Assistant Attorney General, when asked about the difficulty of prosecuting law enforcement officers charged with criminal misconduct .
“So in normal criminal proceedings, prosecutors and law enforcement agencies are on the same side. That creates, sometimes it creates obvious and obvious and worrying conflicts. It also creates human conflict, ”said Coltharp.
Pue’s arbitration negotiations were postponed twice in 2020 as the city grappled with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The hearings are now slated to begin Tuesday in the Rio Vista conference room on S. St. Mary’s Street.
advertisement
If Pue is reinstated, the SAPD officials will have to determine if he has yet to serve a separate three-day ban.
That suspension was imposed in October 2019, months after Pue confronted a colleague who had voted on the internal affairs case related to the arrest of family violence.
The report on internal affairs shows that Pue, visibly upset and angry, confronted an officer and asked about the results of a meeting of the Complaints and Administrative Review Committee, although she was not allowed to speak about it.
Pue was suspended for violating the department’s responsibility for serving the public.
He did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
Pue recently worked as a reserve officer with the Leon Valley Police Department, but the agency’s chief said Pue’s commission ended in April.
advertisement
Read more from the defenders:
Woman sued BCSO, University Health, over lithium overdose that occurred in prison, leaving her in a coma
SAPD detective suspended for inhumane treatment of handcuffed man, records show
Explained: The two new laws triggered by the Texas power outage
Copyright 2021 by KSAT – All rights reserved.
