New Braunfels officer Patrick Akers was fired by the former police chief after he handcuffed a driver who made a rude gesture at him.
A New Braunfels police officer who pulled over and detained a woman after she made a rude gesture at him will return to work for the city after an arbitrator ruled he must be reinstated. Patrick Akers was fired in January after an investigation into the September 2023 incident involving New Braunfels resident Brittany Trevino .
He appealed the decision, seeking reinstatement and backpay, and the hearing examiner ruled largely in his favor last week. Trevino, who filed a misconduct complaint against Akers after he arrested her in a separate incident in 2021, made the gesture as she drove past Akers last fall while he was assisting another officer in a traffic stop, and then changed lanes without signaling, according to police documents. Akers alleges Trevino has been harassing and stalking him since the first arrest, and said she “flicked him off” to try and bait him. Akers got into his patrol car and chased Trevino, pulled her over, told her she was under arrest for the failure to signal and had another officer handcuff her, according to the New Braunfels Police Department's investigation. Trevino was released with a citation, under the advice of a third officer, who later reported the incident as a policy violation. READ MORE: Fourth man charged with murder in New Braunfels shooting death “This is everything that we’re not about. We don’t use our authority to take out personal grudges,” then-Police Chief Keith Lane said at Akers’ appeal hearing in August. Lane retired in October. However, arbitrator Ruben Armendariz ruled that while Akers' action was inappropriate, it didn’t justify his firing. Armendariz wrote in his ruling that “handcuffing Trevino for failing to signal a lane change is not appropriate under any given circumstances.” He agreed with the city’s allegation that Akers “used his position as a peace officer for a personal grievance because Trevino had been harassing him in the social media,” and said his action “gives an appearance of retaliation” to a reasonable person. But Armendariz said Akers' actions warranted “a lesser form of discipline, such as a written warning,” and said Akers’ actions “did not constitute actionable serious misconduct.” The decision to fire Akers was “too harsh or severe,” Armendariz wrote in the ruling. He wrote that Akers “is to be immediately reinstated to his former position,” with backpay, and should receive a written warning for improper detention of Trevino. “The city of New Braunfels has received the decision and is working through the process for reinstatement and backpay,” city spokeswoman Jenna Vinson said. “Because this is an ongoing personnel and legal issue, we are not able to provide any additional information at this time.” Akers will receive about $71,000 in lost salary, as well as vacation and sick time credit, for a total of about $80,000 from the city, said Steve Dunbar, an attorney with the Texas Municipal Police Association who represented Akers. In his ruling, Armendariz said the city’s determination that Akers was insubordinate during the investigation was incorrect. He also said Lane, the former chief, improperly referenced past disciplinary issues in his termination letter. READ MORE: Texas Rangers investigating after New Braunfels officer shoots at suspect Lane's letter cited Akers' disciplinary record, which included 13 complaints filed against him since February 2021. Eight of those complaints resulted in some form of discipline or reprimand, according to police records. Included was an incident in which Akers was suspended for 30 hours in March 2022 for buying a firearm from a woman who called the police for assistance. After the woman’s husband was taken into emergency custody, Akers offered to buy her husband’s guns from her on behalf of his father-in-law, according to police documents. The history of complaints indicate that Akers had been given opportunities “to alter the negative behaviors documented,” Lane wrote, and demonstrates “a complete failure to respond to the progressive disciplinary principles practiced by both the department’s first-line supervisors as well as the command staff.” However, Armendariz ruled that using those previous disciplinary issues was incorrect because of a state statute that puts a 180-day limit on conduct complaints. “Listing disciplinary acts as progressive discipline that occurred more than 180 days to buttress an indefinite suspension is a violation of the Civil Service Act,” he wrote in the ruling. Akers and Dunbar met with the New Braunfels city attorney, human resources department and interim Police Chief David Blevins on Wednesday, Dunbar said. Akers will be given time to leave his current job before returning to the New Braunfels Police Department, he said. Dunbar said he agreed that Akers’ response to Trevino’s gesture was “an untoward reaction,” but said his actions were lawful. He pointed to the history of interactions between the two, and said Akers' actions were 'probably the softest reaction' to seeing someone who had been allegedly stalking him for two years. He alleged that Trevino has violated state law, including trespassing. A criminal complaint is pending at the district attorney’s office, but no charges have been filed in the case, according to Comal County court records. Dunbar said the New Braunfels Police Department let “bad optics” dictate its response to the situation. “Taking her out of the car was lawful, placing her in handcuffs was lawful, arresting her for failure to signal a lane change was lawful,” Dunbar said. “Even though the optics are bad, that does not give the department a right to terminate him.”
Texas Municipal Police Association Texas Rangers Patrick Akers Trevino Brittany Trevino Ruben Armendariz Steve Dunbar Keith Lane Jenna Vinson David Blevins New Braunfels Lane Comal County Civil Service Act
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