{"id":201200,"date":"2025-09-05T03:00:26","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T03:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/201200\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T03:00:26","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T03:00:26","slug":"dallas-pd-officer-got-45-day-suspension-after-arrest-criminal-mischief-case-dropped","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/201200\/","title":{"rendered":"Dallas PD officer got 45-day suspension after arrest, criminal mischief case dropped"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Dallas police officer who was arrested last fall after allegedly kicking in the front door of his girlfriend\u2019s Glenn Heights home during a breakup<\/a> received a 45-day suspension without pay, according to newly obtained records reviewed by The Dallas Morning News.<\/p>\n

Officer Austin Garza, now 31, was off-duty at the time of the Oct. 10 incident. His girlfriend dialed 911 to report she feared for her safety. She said Garza had a history of \u201canger issues\u201d and acting impulsively when upset and had destroyed the door of her home, a Glenn Heights officer wrote in an incident report.<\/p>\n

Garza had faced a charge of criminal mischief, a Class A misdemeanor, as a result of the damage caused to the door. Police arrested him on Oct. 28.<\/p>\n

Garza\u2019s girlfriend later asked to drop the case and no longer wished to pursue the charge, Ricky Sipes, an Ellis County and District Attorney\u2019s Office prosecutor, said Thursday. The office rejected the case for prosecution in April, he said.<\/p>\n

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Attempts to reach Garza for comment Thursday on the memo and the outcome of the criminal mischief case were unsuccessful. It\u2019s unclear whether he had an attorney or planned to appeal the discipline.<\/p>\n

Dallas police Chief Daniel Comeaux informed Garza on May 29 that he would be suspended without pay for 45 days, effective May 30 through July 31. The three-year officer was directed to resume his regular duties on Aug. 1, according to a disciplinary memo obtained Wednesday through a records request.<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/p>\n

Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux listens a reporter\u2019s question during a news conference at Dallas police headquarters, Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, in Dallas.<\/p>\n

Chitose Suzuki \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

The internal affairs investigation, the memo states, concluded the allegations against Garza were sustained, finding he violated two provisions of the department\u2019s code of conduct: that officers must not commit acts defined as criminal and that they must avoid conduct that could \u201cadversely affect, lower or destroy public respect and confidence in the department or officer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The woman provided Glenn Heights police with screenshots of text messages she and Garza exchanged after Oct. 10, some of which were provided to The News in response to a records request. In messages sent on Oct. 12, Garza apologized for the incident and asked how he could wire her money to cover the door repairs.<\/p>\n

The woman replied that they would not get back together and told him she did not want to see or communicate with him again. Garza wired $400 to the woman to put toward the work, the text messages show.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A text message screenshot shows a money transfer from Dallas police officer Austin Garza, who had faced a criminal mischief charge after police say he kicked in his girlfriend’s front door while off duty on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. Garza offered in the messages to pay for the repairs.<\/p>\n

Provided by Glenn Heights police<\/p>\n

The cost to repair the door was estimated at $789, according to a quote included in the records. The criminal mischief charge Garza had faced was for damage totaling between $750 and $2,500.<\/p>\n

Garza joined the Dallas Police Department in June 2022 and was assigned to the Northeast Patrol Division, which spans parts of Old East Dallas, Northeast Dallas and Lake Highlands. State records show he earned his peace officer license in December 2022.<\/p>\n

Garza was among dozens of officers recognized<\/a> in late November with a police commendation award during the department\u2019s annual banquet for putting his safety at risk to perform his duties. He was on administrative leave at the time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Dallas police officer who was arrested last fall after allegedly kicking in the front door of his…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":68320,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,347,4219,1596,14842,44363,5292,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-201200","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-article","10":"tag-crime","11":"tag-dallas","12":"tag-dallas-police","13":"tag-ellis-county","14":"tag-public-safety","15":"tag-texas","16":"tag-tx","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-united-states-of-america","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","21":"tag-us","22":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115149461004519195","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201200\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}