A Bexar County jury sentenced a man to 50 years for shooting an SAPD officer with a shotgun during a 2023 police chase.
SAN ANTONIO — A San Antonio man will spend the next 50 years in prison after a Bexar County jury found him guilty of shooting an SAPD officer with a shotgun back in 2023.
On Aug. 20, 2025, Dominick Rubio was sentenced to 50 years after being found guilty of aggravated assault on a public servant.
In September of 2023, SAPD Officer Bernal-Rodriguez was chasing down Rubio after attempting to serve an arrest warrant for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. At some point during the pursuit, records show Rubio shot Bernal-Rodriguez with a shotgun, striking him in the stomach and arm.
But it’s not just the crime that got attention, it’s what happened before the shooting that sparked a big back and forth between SAPD and the District Attorney’s Office.
The debate in Rubio’s case was over what can be done to prevent repeat violent offenders getting back into the streets.
After this shooting, Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales told KENS 5 that Chief McManus disbanded a repeat offender program unit in the department that was dedicated to tracking down repeat offenders.
This disbanding happened in 2022, and Gonzales added, “rubio should have been in jail long before [the] shooting – and it was the SAPD’s job to search for him, serve the warrant, and get him there.”
Since the disbanding, SAPD moved the repeat offender program responsibilities to their covert response unit, who Gonzales said at the time was overturned with other cases.
“Today’s sentence emphasizes our commitment to the safety of our community, as well as those who are sworn to protect it,” Gonzales said. “We are thankful for the partnerships that we have with our local law enforcement agencies and are grateful to have removed yet another habitual offender from our streets.”