By Philip Jankowski
The Austin American-Statesman
AUSTIN, Texas — An Austin firefighter arrested earlier this year after he was accused of vandalizing the car and home of his ex-wife has been suspended.
Firefighter Robert Garcia, 45, will start serving a nine-day unpaid suspension starting on Sunday, according to a disciplinary memo released on Monday.
Garcia was arrested on June 23 after he went to a San Antonio police station to file a report in connection with a civil issue between Garcia and his ex-wife. While there, police discovered Garcia had a warrant for his arrest regarding an accusation that he had attempted to kick in the door of his ex-wife’s house on March 28, the memo said.
Garcia’s ex-wife told police that Garcia appeared intoxicated when he came to her home between 2:30 and 3 a.m. She called 911, but Garcia left before police arrived, the memo said.
Police officers noted damage to her home’s door and to her car and issued a warrant for Garcia’s arrest based on a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief, the memo said.
Garcia later pleaded guilty to the charge and entered into deferred adjudication.
When the Austin Fire Department’s professional standards office interviewed Garcia about the arrest, he denied damaging his ex-wife’s home and car. But he said he was being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder and that the events “might have happened but he cannot say for sure whether they did or not,” the memo said.
Fire officials concluded that Garcia did damage his ex-wife’s home and car mainly because he pleaded guilty to the criminal mischief charge, the memo said.
Copyright 2016 Austin American-Statesman