It is very disappointing and heartbreaking to hear how Mr. Mathias Ometu was treated by San Antonio’s finest.  Hearing what he endured this morning reminded me of how SAPD has failed to change its policies and procedures.  In some cases, there are no procedures or policies in place to handle such situations.  Maybe they are ignored or just not enforced as I found out personally.  If a detective retires with open cases there are no policies on how to handle such a situation and any evidence available may be lost.

On April 3, 2017, around 10 PM my son and I were involved in a hit and run just a few blocks away from home.  I was not badly injured but I had the misfortune of seeing my son fly into the air as a car hit him from behind just to avoid going over the speed bumps.  http://bit.ly/2nHCp83 The case was assigned to detective John Moore (2255), now retired.  At the hospital, I spoke with him and provided what little details I could remember and was told the witness walking behind us provided additional information on the vehicle.   A few days past and I did not hear back from the detective so I inquired with the different businesses around the area and found out there was video evidence from a few locations that could help track the vehicle responsible for the accident.  After discovery videos with possible leads, I called the detective and left him a few voicemails.

After some failed attempts to reach detective Moore, I headed to the police headquarters to inquire about the case and see if the information I had provided was looked into.  At the headquarters, I was met by Sgt Marfin who informed me the detective had retired and there was no one handling the case.  I told him there was video evidence that needed to be recovered before it was lost.  Before leaving Sgt Marfin told me a new detective would be assigned to the case, detective T O’Connell (2102) would be taking over the case and I would hear back from him on the status of the case.

A few weeks past and I never heard back from detective O’Connell so I again made a stop to the police headquarters.  To my surprise, I was told there was no one looking into the case and it was in pending status.   Again I informed them there was evidence that could be lost if someone did not go out to the different businesses and recover it.  Unfortunately, that information never made it to whoever needed to investigate the case.

Since there was no one looking into the case I reached out to the police departments Internal Affairs and explained what was going on.  Internal Affairs could not look into my case since the original detective had retired and the case was in pending status.  The case was not been investigated and no one in the department had access to the retired detective’s voice mail.  There were no procedures on how to handle the case when a detective retired.

Before been elected Ana Sandoval, candidate for District 7, visited the site of the accident and assured me if elected she would fix the sidewalk and hoped the situation would not repeat itself.  After elected I reached out to Councilwoman Sandoval so that she could look into why the police department had not assigned a detective to the case and why there were no policies to prevent what was going on.  The councilwoman assured me many times she was looking into it and that her staff was making inquiries with the police on the case.  A year after the accident I inquired with the councilwoman and again was told they were still looking into the case along with her staff.  Joe Bravo, chief of staff for councilwoman Sandoval, assured me the case was been looked into and may be related to a problem at the police department dealing with mishandled investigations.   Later it came out on the news that SVU detective Kenneth Valdez was fired for allegedly mishandling more than 130 cases. 

In December 2017 I reached out to the city manager’s office in an attempt to get some answers on the case.  I received a reply from then-Deputy City Manager Erik Walsh who informed me Capt. Blanton or Lt. Salame would be reaching out to me.   I did meet with someone at the police headquarters to discuss the case and was shocked to learn there were no policies in the department to handle cases left open by a retiring detective.  What I was read was detective Moore’s last report stating there was no video evidence and shortly after the detective retired without even listening to the messages I had left him.   I was told if there were any messages left on his voicemail they would be wiped out by the IT department.   To make matters worse the department never assigned a detective to look into the case.  Sgt. Marfin and Detective O’Connell never made any notations stating there was video evidence that needed to be recovered before it was lost.   It was also explained to me the policy changes would need to come from the Chief of Police but the chances of that happening would be impossible.

In July 2018 I attended a community meeting in hopes of speaking to chief McManus regarding the case unfortunately he was unable to speak to me about it and instead referred me to one of his assistants.   After speaking to them they asked whom I had spoken to so I provided him a copy of the email listing all the staff at the police department I had discussed the case with.   To my surprise again I was told if I already spoke to them and never got an answer that should tell me something.  The matter is not one Chief McManus wants to discuss or feels like it’s worth discussing or resolving.

In August 2019 a news report regarding the mishandled SVU cases stated there was a lack of oversight and Chief McManus was going to implement better oversight to prevent such reoccurrence.  Councilwoman was quoted as saying “I’m glad to hear about the additional measures and the additional staff and the change in the reporting structure.  I think all of that is going to add some redundancy, and we can’t be too careful with these SVU reports”.   Since my son’s case was not SVU related I again was assured by the councilwoman’s office work was been done to look into my son’s case.

Since I was not hearing any updates on the case and the councilwoman’s office continued telling me they were looking into the case I was encouraged by a former staff member of the councilwoman’s office to request an open records request.  I was not sure why I had to go that direction so in September 2019 I requested an open records request W284484-092319.  I received the following “The City of San Antonio has reviewed its files and has determined there are no responsive documents to your request.”  How is it that after all this time the councilwoman’s office continued to tell me that her office was actively looking into what happed and it turns out both her office and the police department have no such inquiries into the case coming from her office.

Frustrated with everything I wanted to meet in person with the councilwoman so in March 2020 I attended a city council meeting in an attempt to discuss with councilwoman Sandoval what I had uncovered and get an explanation.  I spoke with both Erick De Luna, Constituent Service Representative for councilwoman Sandoval and Matteo Trevino, Communications Director for councilwoman Sandoval.   I brought up what I had found and asked to see if the councilwoman could explain, instead I was told she was very busy and was unavailable to speak.   Been unable to speak to the councilwoman I asked if she could please contact me regarding the open records saying she and her staff never attempted to look into my son’s case.   As of today, no attempt has been made by the councilwoman and Erick has been reminded that the councilwoman has not made any attempts to discuss what I found.  How can anyone trust her credibility or honesty?  I believed every word she told me along with her staff!  I feel my trust in her was misplaced and I needed an explanation as to why she and her office felt it was ok to continue dragging along with the hopes her office was looking into my son’s case.

Bottom line I know there will never be any justice for my son!  Attempts to get answers from the police department resulted in reading me the report the retired detective wrote without even hearing the fact there was additional evidence that needed to be recover.  What I’m looking for and have tried to get is changes in the police department.   I can’t believe there are no policies in place when a detective retires and he/she has open cases that need follow up.   As a citizen, I should not be hunting down evidence and begging our police department to please have someone follow up on a case no longer been investigated by a retired detective. As of today, no such policy exists and who knows how many victims of a crime are going without any justice.

With regards to my Councilwoman Sandoval, how can any trust her?  My trust was placed on someone I thought was better than the previous representative for our district.   Not only did I help her campaign the first time but also for her re-election with the guarantees her office was looking into my son’s case.  Well, that trust was misplaced and now I regret it.  Personally speaking, I lost all trust in her, and district 7 may be better served by someone with integrity.

How is it that special interest groups like BLM can have their voices heard by the councilwoman and immediately the Public Safety Committee makes recommendations for the city council to approve? Do residents in her district even matter? Are groups like BLM and TOP directing policy while residents in district 7 are left wondering who is in charge? With the stay at home order residents like myself are left wondering why is it that protestors have more rights to listen to by the councilwoman and we the residents of her district can’t have a call returned by her.

UPDATE

On Tue, Sep 8, 2020 at 1:42 PM, Erick De Luna (City Council)<[email protected]> wrote:

Ruben, thank you for sharing your concerns and I apologize for the delay in response. I have shared your thoughts with Councilwoman Sandoval and we apologize for any perception of inactivity regarding policy changes with SAPD. We strive to address every issue and I personally worked with city staff to make your voice heard about the situation you had to endure.

I hope to continue working with you and your neighborhood and as always, I will try my best to address your needs.

Yours in service,

Erick De Luna | Constituent Service Representative | Councilwoman Ana Sa.ndoval, District 7
Direct: 210.556.6419 | [email protected]

As of today September 24,2020, no one from the councilwoman’s office has contacted me with an update. How long should anyine wait? 2 or 3 years? Maybe 5 years or when a mob of protectors show up at her residence or city chambers. It is very clear our councilwoman’s priorities are elsewhere and not with the citizens that elected her!.