The DA’s office pointed to a 2025 criminal case that specified how stalking charges can be prosecuted.
SAN ANTONIO — A former head of the San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association who had been indicted on felony stalking charges saw his case dismissed in January, online records show.
Christopher Steele, who headed up the union for more than a decade after retiring in the summer of 2021, was arrested and subsequently indicted in 2024 after allegedly harassing applicants for the city’s open fire chief position, including eventual hire Valerie Frausto. He was arrested in May 2024 in Hays County after officials said he emailed and texted multiple members of the San Antonio Fire Department that spring.
Court records show his case was dismissed on Jan. 21. The Bexar County District Attorney’s Office cited a 2025 criminal case which clarified the limits of how stalking offenses can be prosecuted—specifically as it pertains to stalking cases centered around communications, as was the case in Steele’s arrest.
“The ruling states that the conduct of an individual can be criminalized, but not the content of the communication, as it is protected under the First Amendment,” the DA’s office said in a statement. “Because the current evidence in the case against Christopher Allen Steele did not amount to proof beyond a reasonable doubt, we could not move forward.”
According to arrest records, Steele, 59, identified himself as an independent investigator named Frank who had uncovered “concerning allegations,” including offensive speech and exploiting their position within the department.
Investigators with the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) talked with recipients of those messages allegedly sent by Steele, saying they weren’t aware about any claims made against them or their colleagues. Instead, they told investigators, they felt they were being threatened not to apply to lead the department.
One of the recipients, records show, was Frausto. At the time she was an interim deputy chief in charge of administrative services for SAFD.
According to records, “Frank” claimed he had information Frausto had used her position to influence a business inspection and try to “impose maximum fines” upon them.
The emails went on to say the allegations wouldn’t be made public if Frausto stopped pursuing the fire chief opening, a position vacated by Charles Hood in early 2024. She also alleged “Frank” had given her an ultimatum to respond within 24 hours to a follow-up email; otherwise, the sender wrote, “allegations would be released.”
The sender went as far as to include what a press release would look like before it was distributed to local media.
Records say Frausto felt the sender was trying to coerce her into not applying for the chief position. She won the job in October 2024.