Termination of SAPD Officer Who Served Feces Sandwich to Homeless Man Upheld
June 22, 2020 - San Antonio
Out of luck. Former San Antonio Police officer Matthew Luckhurst lost the appeal to keep his job on Friday. Screenshot: Facebook.
By Jade Esteban Estrada - Staff Writer, San Antonio Sentinel
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
- In May 2016, SAPD Officer Matthew Luckhurst was terminated after serving a homeless man feces between two slices of bread while he was on duty
- Luckhurst, who was fired twice, lost his appeal on Friday to keep his job
- Both the city manager and the police chief believe that the limits imposed by the Collective Bargaining Agreement make it difficult to discipline or fire officers who fail to live up to SAPD standards
On Friday, an arbitrator upheld San Antonio Police Chief William McManus’ second termination of Matthew Luckhurst, the former SAPD officer who served a feces sandwich in a Styrofoam container to an individual who was experiencing homelessness in the downtown area.
Luckhurst was initially fired - or indefinitely suspended - in 2016 after the incident, which took place while he was on duty. Under a provision in the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the police union, Luckhurst appealed to a third-party arbitrator and in March 2019 and was reinstated by claiming that the incident occurred more than 180 days before McManus’ suspension was issued.
Luckhurst received a second suspension for a separate incident when he admitted to purposely failed to flush feces in the toilet in the Downtown Bike Patrol women’s restroom in June 2016. "On the same occasion, he spread a brown tapioca-like substance on the toilet seat to give the appearance of feces," stated a City spokesperson in a press release. The statement also revealed that Luckhurst said he took these actions because a female officer had placed a sign in the room requesting that it be kept clean.
Hearing Examiner Thomas Cipolla found that McManus’ decision to terminate Luckhurst’s employment was warranted due to the egregious nature of Luckhurst’s conduct aimed at women.
“This individual clearly has no business wearing an SAPD uniform, and it should never have been this hard to fire him,” said City Manager Erik Walsh. “I am pleased that this is behind us, but the contract provision that gave him more chances than he deserved remains an obstacle to the Chief’s ability to discipline officers who fail to live up to SAPD’s standards.”
“The vast majority of our officers respect their oaths to serve the community, and they resent it when individuals like Luckhurst discredit the badge,” said McManus. “For both the department and the community, it was critically important that he not be allowed to have his job back. Although the limits imposed on me by the Collective Bargaining Agreement made firing him more difficult than it should have been, justice was finally served in this case.”
Luckhurst’s lawyer, Ben Sifuentes had “no comment at this time,” according to his office secretary.
Jade Esteban Estrada is a staff writer at the San Antonio Sentinel, where he covers public health and other citywide issues. He can be reached at jade@sasentinel.com.