Officer Paul Fencik was arrested after he was found to have a blood alcohol content over .15, authorities said. He posted bond the same day.
SAN ANTONIO — SAPD has released body camera footage of the arrest of an on-duty officer who was accused of driving while being intoxicated in late July.
Following a daily shift roll call around 6 a.m. on July 31, SAPD said a sergeant and lieutenant smelled alcohol coming from Officer Paul Fencik, who was on the clock at the time.
As supervisors began the administrative process, Fencik drove out of the substation parking lot in his assigned patrol vehicle. Shortly after, the lieutenant called Fencik back and an SAPD traffic officer responded to assess him for possible intoxication.
The 13-minute video released Monday shows Fencik being confronted by an officer from the DWI unit at his desk, where he was asked to do a field sobriety test.
“I haven’t been driving. I was in the parking lot,” Fencik is heard saying.
“Yeah, I guess there’s video of you driving,” an SAPD sergeant standing nearby responds. “It is what it is.”
After sitting at his desk for a few minutes, Fencik reluctantly agreed to the test, saying, “If I refuse, I go to jail.” He said the other officers who told on him were “f***ing rats.”
The footage goes on to show Fencik participating in several sobriety tests. Among other tasks, he was asked to follow the tip of a pen with his eyes while not moving his head and walk in a straight line one foot at a time.
>>Watch the full video below
In the last test Fencik was asked to count backwards from 54 to 41. Fencik then did this, but skipping 50 and stopping at 44 instead of 41.
The video ends with the DWI officer saying: “I’m going to have to do the uncomfortable thing, turn around.” while starting to put handcuffs on Fencik before the footage concludes.
Officials said Fencik was eventually shown to have a blood alcohol content of .15 when he was arrested; the legal limit for drivers in Texas is 0.08. He posted bond the same day, according to jail records.
During a search of Fencik’s patrol vehicle, an open beer container was found in the center console, along with a cooler filled with unopened beer cans, according to SAPD. He was placed on administrative duty while the case is investigated.
SAPD says Fencik has been employed by the department for 18 years.