Two days after an inmate died, a Bexar County detention deputy was accused of opening his cell door to allow several inmates to “violently assault” him.
BEXAR COUNTY, Texas — The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a detention deputy days after an inmate died at the facility, saying he allowed other inmates to “violently assault” him in his cell.
Francisco Bazan, 46, was pronounced dead in his cell early Wednesday morning. BCSO and the Texas Rangers were investigating the incident and categorized his death a homicide due to “blunt force injury to the torso.”
On Friday afternoon, the Texas Rangers arrested 20-year-old Clemente Lopez Jr. in connection with Bazan’s death. He now faces a murder charge and resigned from BCSO after speaking with investigators, the agency said.
During the investigation, BCSO said, detectives found Lopez had purposely left Bazan’s cell door open, “allowing multiple inmates to enter and violently assault Bazan inside his cell.”
Lopez was arrested immediately. He had been with BCSO’s detention division since Aug. 17, 2023.
The Texas Rangers are still leading the criminal investigation as a separate but concurrent administrative investigation is conducted by the BCSO Internal Affairs Unit.
“From the first day of training, cadets and deputies are reminded that inmates are neither their friends nor their enemies,” Sheriff Javier Salazar said in a release. “This suspect ignored both of those points and is now paying for it with his freedom and his career.”