Bexar County sheriff reveals more deputy misconduct

Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said he’s taken on a more direct role in the department’s disciplinary process during a press conference called in the wake of more deputy misconduct.

He also announced Wednesday the terminations of Sgt. Wesley Anderson and Lloyd H. Mickens, a probationary deputy.

Anderson was fired after deputies became aware of an alleged assault he was involved at an H-E-B in August 2018. The criminal case against him is still pending.

Over the weekend, Mickens was involved with an off-duty disturbance that also involved assault allegations, Salazar said. Mickens was terminated because he was uncooperative with the sheriff office’s internal investigators, Salazar said.

“I’m not tolerating it,” Salazar said. “We terminated him effective immediately.”

That follows the arrest of a jailer, Corporal Ryan Storm Ferrell on suspicion of driving while intoxicated on St. Patrick’s Day.

Salazar delivered a notice of termination to Ferrell shortly after the arrest and then mentioned in a news release that on Friday he fired Vanessa Flores, a dispatcher, and deputies Adrian Parra and Joseph Martinez for their own alcohol-related troubles.

Salazar has been open about deputy misconduct since he’s been elected in 2016, but the issue has been pervasive. In 2018 alone, 23 deputies were arrested on a variety of charges ranging from DWI to family violence.

Because of his extensive career in law enforcement, Salazar said he was not caught off-guard by the problems plaguing the sheriff’s office.

“It’s going to happen at any law enforcement agency, you’re going to have people run afoul from the law,” Salazar said. “What separates you from the pack is how you handle it. you don’t sweep it under the rug, you confront it head-on, you deal with it openly and honestly.”

Written by: Fares Sabawi

Courtesy of San Antonio Express-News

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