SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Police Department fired an officer accused of trying to chase down his stolen vehicle and shooting toward the suspect while he was off duty, according to suspension paperwork.
Someone called Officer Miguel Leal around 4 p.m. on Nov. 20 to inform him that a blue Dodge Charger belonging to Leal was stolen at gunpoint at Auto Zone in the 6100 block of Old Pearsall Road on the Southwest Side. The suspension paperwork didn’t state who the person was that called Leal and who was driving the car.
An hour after the robbery, SAPD officers told dispatch they had found the stolen Charger and were following it, according to suspension paperwork.
Leal, who was monitoring police radio while in a vehicle with a passenger, went to where the officers were pursuing the suspect in the stolen Charger, documents state. He was off duty at the time, not in uniform, nor was he in a marked patrol car.
“Leal did not use sound judgment when he unnecessarily got involved in this incident while off duty, particularly when the incident was being handled by on-duty uniformed officers in marked police vehicles,” the suspension paperwork stated.
The off-duty officer placed his passenger in danger while trying to find the suspect, who reportedly had a gun, police stated.
Leal used his vehicle to block the suspect in the stolen Charger from continuing to travel onto the 100 block of Whitewood Street, paperwork states. He then got out of his vehicle, put himself in the path of the Charger and refused to move out of the way.
“Leal’s actions were caught on surveillance video and observed by multiple witnesses,” according to suspension documents.
The person in the Charger drove around Leal, and Leal fired one shot in the direction of the suspect, police stated.
“The occupant of the vehicle was not using deadly force when Officer Leal discharged his weapon at the moving vehicle, in violation of the SAPD General Manual,” according to the paperwork.
The document stated Leal was not permitted to carry the Smith and Wesson Shield firearm he was carrying on or off-duty.
Leal’s discipline record stated he was suspended 45 days in April 2022, 30 days in January 2022 and nine days in October 2021.
His indefinite suspension without pay was served on March 21, 2023.
“The law and sound community expectations recognize that there is good cause for depriving Officer Leal of his possession,” the suspension paperwork stated.
Last week, SAPD officials released discipline records covering March through May, months after many of the suspensions were handed down. Officials have not provided a reason for the lengthy delay in releasing the paperwork publicly.
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