A former San Antonio police officer who was fired for allegedly giving a homeless man a sandwich filled with dog feces has been promoted to police chief of a small Texas town. Matthew Luckhurst assumed the role on June 1 after three years with the Benavides Police Department, a community of about 1,100 residents located 150 miles south of San Antonio.
Background of the Incidents
According to the Houston Chronicle, Luckhurst was a bike patrol officer with the San Antonio Police Department in 2016 when he allegedly provided a feces sandwich to a homeless individual. Colleagues reported the incident. About a month later, after a female officer requested that the ladies' restroom at the police station be kept clean, Luckhurst and another officer allegedly defecated in a toilet without flushing and spread a brown substance resembling tapioca on the toilet seat to simulate feces.
Disciplinary Actions and Appeals
The San Antonio police department initially terminated Luckhurst for the feces sandwich incident, but he was reinstated in 2019 because the department missed the 180-day window to impose discipline. He was fired again for the toilet incident, and an arbitrator upheld that termination. Luckhurst admitted to giving the homeless man the sandwich on a tray but claimed he intended for the man to throw it away, not eat it, as reported by the San Antonio Express-News.
Subsequent Employment
After leaving the San Antonio force, Luckhurst briefly worked as a police officer in Floresville, Texas, before being fired again following public complaints about the 2016 incident. The Benavides police department declined to comment on his hiring but confirmed that he became police chief on June 1.
