A San Antonio police officer served a five-day suspension this month after investigators said he used excessive force on a suspect accused of hitting a Bexar County sheriff’s deputy with a car, city discipline records show.
Officer Anthony Espinosa was among a group of SAPD officers who took suspect Adrian Arellano into custody in mid-October, a little more than a week after investigators said Arellano hit the off-duty deputy with a car as he directed traffic outside of a school.
Footage of Arellano’s Oct. 14 arrest captured by KSAT showed the suspect backing toward officers at the corner of San Pedro Avenue and Thames Drive.
Arellano, who had his arms out to his side, was pressed against the back of a patrol vehicle and eventually taken into custody.
A subsequent internal affairs investigation determined Espinosa “forcefully drove” Arellano’s body into the vehicle and then pushed the man’s arm above his head.
Espinosa’s actions, according to SAPD discipline records, caused the arrest to turn into a physical struggle.
Espinosa is a seven-year veteran of SAPD, city human resources records show.
Footage showed BCSO deputy clinging to roof of moving car
On Oct. 3, 2024, at approximately 8 a.m., an off-duty BCSO deputy directed traffic outside St. Matthew Catholic School when dashcam video showed him clinging to the top of a car while the suspect, later identified as Arellano, continued to drive.
The collision caused the deputy to fall on top of the vehicle, where he held on as Arellano continued to drive, deputies said.
Arellano eventually stopped the vehicle, but the deputy fell off and suffered a broken foot and head injuries, the sheriff’s office previously said.
BCSO said a bystander in another vehicle witnessed the incident and decided to drive in front of Arellano to prevent him from moving forward.
Arellano, who has an extensive criminal history in Bexar County, was indicted for aggravated assault of a public servant in December.
Arrellano is tentatively scheduled to go to trial on May 14.
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.
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