A police officer who was fired after he gave a ‘faeces sandwich’ to a homeless man has been fired from a second police force.
Matthew Luckhurst was fired from the San Antonio Police Department in 2016 after placing dog excrement between two pieces of bread and giving it to a homeless man.
In the grim incident, Luckhurst was said to have told a colleague that ‘he had picked up some faeces, placed it in a slice of bread, and put it in a Styrofoam container next to the unknown homeless male’, a release from the time explained.
The release continued: “The officer reported that he told Luckhurst to go back and throw it away. The officer said he saw Luckhurst go back and he assumed that Luckhurst discarded the container.”
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In another incident the same year, Luckhurst and another officer defecated in the women’s toilet without flushing and spread ‘a brown substance with the consistency of tapioca’ on the seat, MySanAntonio reports.
Speaking at the time San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said: "It's a disgrace to the department. It’s a disgrace to the badge. And it's embarrassing that someone would do something like that, ever do something like that.”
However, Luckhurst was reinstated in 2019 after an arbitrator ruled that the department had missed a 180-day legal window to discipline him.
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He appealed again when he was re-fired in relation to the incidents, but in June 2020 an arbitrator ruled that his dismissal was justified, San Antonio Express-News reports.
Despite this, five months later Luckhurst managed to get a job in the nearby city of Floresville.
From late 2020 until last week, he was working as a Floresville Police Department reserve officer.
City Mayor Cissy Gonzalez-Dippell announced Luckhurst had been fired on Thursday December 15 after she had been ‘inundated with calls, messages and emails’.
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She said: "Upon verifying with Floresville City Manager Andy Joslin, Mr. Luckhurst was released from employment from the city of Floresville as of yesterday."
She added: "Our city manager, Andy Joslin is implementing stricter hiring policies for all city of Floresville employees.
"He is also working with Chief Herrera on the Reserve program."
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In a statement prior to him being fired, the Floresville Police Department said: “Unfortunately, the Floresville Police Department was not Fully aware of the entire incident involving the alleged incident, as the same individual had previously been issued a general discharge by the previous law enforcement agency that he was employed with.
“Please rest assured that the City of Floresville and FPD does not condone any of the alleged actions and will do whatever is necessary to ensure the continued safety of its citizens.”
Claire Reid