SAPD sergeant suspended for
threatening text messages to female officer
Dillon Collier, KENS 5 6:49
p.m. CDT September 3, 2014
Sgt. Dale Sanders was suspended three days in April,
according to suspension paperwork released by the city following an open
records request from the I-Team
SAN ANTONIO -- A San Antonio
Police sergeant was suspended earlier this year after sending a series of threatening text messages to a female
officer.
Sgt. Dale Sanders was suspended
three days in April, according to suspension paperwork released by the city
following an open records request from the I-Team.
Sanders, who was already under
investigation for comments he made to another female officer injured in the
line of duty in April 2013, admitted to sending the text messages to Officer
Eloisa Mondragon.
Mondragon had told internal
affairs investigators that comments made by Sanders to injured Officer Misty
Floyd were inappropriate
Sanders criticized Floyd for
failing to call for a cover officer before trying to arrest a man for public
intoxication in the 4700 block of Dietrich Road, according to internal affairs
paperwork.
Floyd and the man, identified
as David Ricks, got into a physical altercation that forced them both to be
hospitalized.
Floyd suffered undisclosed
injuries and was forced to TASER Ricks before other officers arrived on scene
and helped take Ricks into custody.
An attorney representing Ricks
in his upcoming trial for assault of a peace officer said his client suffered
fractures to his shoulder, ribs. sternum and ankle, a collapsed lung and head
injuries.
Mondragon filed a harassment
complaint against Sanders in October 2013, shortly after receiving the text
messages.
Sanders told Mondragon via text
message: "No more comments to IA (Internal Affairs) that I was rude",
"Should have never wrote that Ellie. Comments like that hurt your career",
and "There are plenty of examples around this place that some spvrs
(supervisors) hold a grudge their entire career".
While researching this story,
the I-Team found this was not the first time Sgt. Sanders had been investigated
by SAPD.
According to the San Antonio
Express-News, a Bexar County grand jury indicted Sgt. Sanders in May 2004 for
working as a private security guard at the north-side subdivision where he
lived, while on duty.
A jury acquitted Sanders of
both felony charges in October 2005, according to the Express-News.
Should have never wrote that
Ellie. Comments like that hurt your career
Officer Floyd now works as a
media spokesperson for the police department.
Ricks is scheduled to go to
trial September 16.
