Few Details Emerge From APD Suspension

As reported in last week’s issue, a disciplinary memo issued by Police Chief Art Acevedo regarding Officer Wilfredo Soto’s one-day suspension was more tersely worded than most.

Soto was found in violation of APD policy demanding that officers report “any arrest, charge, or indictment for a criminal offense above the grade of a Class C misdemeanor, or for any Class C misdemeanor involving the duties and responsibilities of office or family violence.”

It’s hard to tell what exactly escalated Soto’s two incidents with his girlfriend to a Class C misdemeanor. Williamson County Sheriff's reports indicate that the first incident ended without arrests or charges. Soto and his girlfriend were having an argument about “discipline issues with each other’s children” when, according to his girlfriend, Soto threw one of the children’s toys on the floor, causing it to break. Both told WilCo Sheriff’s Deputy Ben Bohac that night that she tripped over his foot when she tried to clear the toy’s remains, though they also both said the tripping was not intentional, and she was not hurt. Soto then left their shared apartment and his girlfriend locked the door. She called police after Soto began banging on the garage door in an effort to, he said, “get back into the apartment to gather some of his belongings.” (He eventually did just that, and went to a hotel for the evening.) Bohac wrote that he closed the incident after concluding that the disturbance “was verbal only” and appeared void of any “threat of violence at the residence.”

A report of the second incident that brought WilCo Sheriff’s deputies to Soto’s apartment could not be released. A representative from the office explained that the incident “involved kids.” Texas Family Code section 261.201 prohibits the release of any records involving child abuse or neglect if a court determines that the incident was “not likely to endanger the life or safety” of that child.

Soto never told APD about the incidents, and failed to report anything to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. He was docked one day for violating APD policy on Responsibility to Report, with the option to serve it by applying vacation or holiday time with no loss of salary or break in service. An officer who chooses that option (available for suspensions of three days or less) forgoes the right to appeal the suspension altogether.