A former San Antonio police officer who fired two shots toward juveniles running from him and was indefinitely suspended in 2020 has been arrested and charged with deadly conduct-firearm, according to sources.
Oscar Cruz Jr. was arrested Thursday night, according to online records.
LATEBREAKING Sources say ex-SAPD officer Oscar Cruz Jr. is in custody, charged with felony deadly conduct-firearm. Cruz is accused of firing his service weapon at two teens running from him in March 2020. Cruz was later fired for the on-duty incident. Now he’s criminally charged pic.twitter.com/BB4tbu1l1P
— Dillon Collier (@dilloncollier) February 25, 2022
City officials released disciplinary records in late 2020, more than six weeks after KSAT had filed an open records request for the information.
Cruz had received the indefinite suspension, tantamount to firing, for an incident he was called to in the 9500 block of Five Forks on March 9, 2020, according to the records.
He had responded to calls about two teens pulling on vehicle door handles, according to the document.
The officer tried detaining one of the juveniles, who ran away from him. During the chase, Cruz pulled out his service weapon, according to the document.
During the chase, second juvenile threw an object, striking the officer in the face and head, according to the records.
“Officer Cruz fired two rounds at the direction of the suspects as they fled the scene,” according to the records, which violated the department’s use-of-force procedure.
The incident was captured on Cruz’s bodycam, according to the disciplinary record. During the incident, Cruz could be heard telling the juveniles “stop running or I will f—ing shoot you.”
Cruz was also cited for using the muzzle of his gun as a signal to direct the responding officer.
“Officer Cruz failed to use sound judgment when he continued to point the firearm in the direction of the arriving officer.”
Records show Cruz was previously suspended at least once during his time with the San Antonio Police Department. In 2018, Cruz was suspended for three days after striking a pedestrian with his patrol car.
Cruz was handed the termination on Oct. 20, 2020. Records show he appealed that decision on Oct. 21.
Read more about how arbitration plays out of San Antonio police officers.