SAN ANTONIO – The mother of a man diagnosed with autism is advocating for better law enforcement training days after she said her son was treated unjustly by Bexar County Sheriff’s Office deputies.
Gloria Huntington’s son, Tyler Huntington, 27, spends his days in the family’s front yard. However, on Wednesday, March 5, Gloria was dropping her daughter off at school when she noticed a car following her son while he was walking.
When she got home, Bexar County deputies were parked in front of Gloria’s home.
KSAT obtained video from a home camera from Gloria’s garage. In the video, Tyler can be seen with what appears to be a metal rod in his hand. According to Gloria, the item in his hand was a luggage rack that attaches to luggage to the top of a vehicle.
“He goes to put it in the back of the car, in the trunk, and that’s when the cops come across the street, and they take out their tasers, getting ready to taser him,” Gloria said. “I jump in front of Ty, and I said no, no, no, no. I’m screaming at them and yelling at them, and things just escalated from there.”
A BCSO statement sent to KSAT for this incident reads, in part, “Deputies approached Tyler, drew their Tasers, due to the allegation of being a burglary suspect and confiscated the railing he was holding.”
In the home camera video on the garage, deputies can be heard telling Tyler to put the rack down and asking Gloria for her son’s name.
“What are you doing here,” Gloria can be heard asking.
With a stun gun drawn, an officer pulls the rack out of Tyler’s hand and then handcuffs him.
“Let him go, let him go,” Gloria yells from behind. The neighbors from across the street can also be heard yelling, “he’s autistic, he’s autistic.”
The video appears to show after Tyler is put in the car, deputies return to the top of the driveway to speak with Gloria. She continues yelling and asking about her son.
“Shouting isn’t going to get you anywhere,” one of the deputies from the video told Gloria. ”Shut the hell up, and I’ll explain everything to you.”
The video then shows Gloria being handcuffed and taken into a separate vehicle.
“I’m yelling at them, and they’re saying, ‘Well, your son is – you know, we’re here because he stole property,’” Gloria said. “I emailed a deputy [after the incident,] and I said no, there’s a receipt. That rack is mine.”
Deputies can then be seen in the video driving Tyler away from his home. Once Gloria was released from the deputies vehicle, she said she called the Bexar County Central Magistrate’s Office to try and figure out where her son was being taken.
“She said, ‘It looks like they took him, but I can’t tell you where he went because of HIPAA laws,’” Gloria explained. “I said, ‘But I’m his medical representative. I need to know where he is.’”
Gloria told KSAT that a deputy eventually returned and told her which hospital they took Tyler to.
“We go pick him up,” Gloria said. “He was heavily sedated. He goes into the car, and he’s literally just so sleepy the whole time. Come back home, and he slept 24 hours.”
Gloria said she was worried about the sedation because her son was sedated years prior and had an adverse reaction.
“The deputies arrested Tyler and took him to the Bexar County Detention Center, but he was medically rejected by the intake nurse,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement, in part, to KSAT.
Gloria also said people in the neighborhood have reported her son before as a suspicious person in the neighborhood because he tends to walk around.
She said the calls had never ended with him in handcuffs before. Gloria also said the most recent BCSO deputy to come out to their home knew their names and knew that Tyler was diagnosed with autism.
“She said, ‘I see that your house is on a card,’” Gloria said, referring to a safety measure that she and her sister took to ensure BCSO knew that there were people with autism inside.
Gloria said she had not received a copy of the incident report between the time of the incident on Wednesday and her conversation with KSAT on Sunday. She said she had filed a complaint with the department and that Bexar County Internal Affairs had called her. According to Gloria, she has a meeting with them on Monday.
According to online Bexar County jail records, his name does not show charges as of Sunday evening. KSAT emailed the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Office at 12:32 p.m. on Sunday and did not receive a response. KSAT emailed again at 4:52 p.m. Sunday and sent a text message.
A BCSO official replied, “I’ll check,” and at 9:57 p.m., BCSO provided the following statement in full:
“On March 5, 2025, Deputies responded to a burglary in progress at 107 Mallow Grove. The caller didn’t have a suspect description but suggested his wife might.
When the deputies arrived, the caller’s wife reported seeing a man taking items from her backyard and found the rear sliding door of her home open, suggesting he might have entered. She showed the deputies photos of the suspect, who was later identified as Tyler Huntington, and mentioned he dropped some items while walking to [an address].
The deputies found stolen aluminum railings at a nearby residence. Upon arriving at [an address], they spoke to the homeowner, who saw Tyler running from the area. Deputies approached Tyler, drew their Tasers, due to the allegation of being a burglary suspect and confiscated the railing he was holding.
Tyler’s mother contacted the deputies, expressing concern for her autistic son and becoming agitated. She claimed the items belonged to Tyler and mentioned that he had previously been found on other people’s property.
Despite claims made by Tyler’s mother, both complainants believed the items were stolen from their backyard. The deputies arrested Tyler and took him to the Bexar County Detention Center, but he was medically rejected by the intake nurse.
The investigation remains ongoing, and the deputies who responded to the incident acted in good faith based on the information they were given by the complainant, which included footage of Tyler being on the complainant’s property. Tyler’s mother would later provide a receipt confirming that the property Tyler had in his possession belonged to him.”
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