Officer fired over drunken driving arrest
Quintana, who fatally shot man last year, was arrested hours after questioning over shooting.
Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo fired the officer Thursday who fatally shot Nathaniel Sanders II last year over the officer's drunken driving arrest in January, according to a disciplinary memo the city released.
Senior officer Leonardo Quintana went out with friends Jan. 11 and drank alcohol throughout the night, including at a gentleman's club, the memo says.
It says he then drove more than 45 minutes to a home in Leander, and despite an offer to stay the night, Quintana decided to drive home with a woman he met that night.
But Quintana drove his vehicle into a traffic control circle at Saddle Blanket Place and Osage Drive in Leander, the memo says, and he could not remove the vehicle before police arrived.
Quintana's lawyer, Tom Stribling, said they would appeal the firing. He said the termination is the first for an officer after a first-offense drunken driving charge in at least a decade.
Quintana's arrest followed nearly six hours of questioning Jan. 11 as part of a federal civil rights lawsuit into the shooting of Sanders, said Adam Loewy, an attorney representing the Sanders family.
Acevedo wrote that Quintana showed a lack of good judgment and brought discredit to the department.
"Most disturbing is the fact that Officer Quintana admitted to me that his drinking to excess and his decision to drive intoxicated the morning in question was not a result of stress but rather a conscious decision made with the intent and desire to engage in a sexual liaison with his female passenger," Acevedo wrote in the memo.
Leander police responded to a 911 call in the early hours of Jan. 12 and arrested Quintana after administering field sobriety tests, the memo says. He refused to provide a sample of his breath or blood for alcohol analysis and was booked into the Williamson County Jail.
He was checked out of the jail by the Austin Police Department's internal affairs unit to have a blood test performed, which showed a blood alcohol content of 0.088, the memo says. It says that extrapolating the results, Quintana's level at the time of the crash was 0.19, or more than twice the legal limit of 0.08. The memo also says at that time, he was in possession of a firearm.
Austin Police Department "employees subscribe and are held to the highest levels of ethical conduct," Acevedo said in a statement following Thursday's disciplinary review hearing. "The facts and reasons leading to the indefinite suspension are documented in the disciplinary memorandum, which speaks for itself."
Quintana fatally shot Sanders outside an apartment complex on Springdale Road in East Austin last year after Sanders reached for a gun, officials said.
The shooting ignited unrest among spectators at the scene, and Quintana was later suspended for 15 days for not activating his patrol car camera. He was not disciplined for his tactics or use of deadly force.
More controversy surrounded the Sanders shooting when Acevedo fired an internal affairs detective for showing bias toward Quintana in the case.
In the memo announcing the firing, the police chief said that because of his suspension, Quintana should have conducted himself "in a manner above reproach."
"He knew that his actions were being highly scrutinized and any further misconduct on his part would reflect poorly on him and the Department and the City," Acevedo wrote.
The memo contained two sections of redacted information that were prefaced by Acevedo questioning Quintana's behavior.
Sgt. Wayne Vincent, president of the Austin Police Association, said the firing "is very sad."
"That's pretty much all we can say at this point," he said. "We don't agree or disagree. It was within the chief's discretion, and the officer has the option open to him to appeal."
Nelson Linder, president of the Austin chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said he thinks Acevedo's decision was appropriate. "But it is a bit late," Linder said. "We think Quintana should have been fired last year because of excessive force."
Loewy, the attorney representing Sanders' family, declined to comment about the firing.
Quintana has 10 days to file a written notice of appeal.
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