{"id":918896,"date":"2026-07-07T16:00:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T16:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/918896\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T16:00:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T16:00:16","slug":"records-sapd-fired-sergeant-for-timekeeping-issues-after-voicing-concerns-about-lieutenants-behavior","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/918896\/","title":{"rendered":"Records: SAPD fired sergeant for timekeeping issues after voicing concerns about lieutenant\u2019s behavior"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN ANTONIO<\/strong> \u2013 A veteran San Antonio Police Department sergeant was fired for submitting inaccurate employee time forms after she reported concerns about a lieutenant\u2019s conduct toward female employees, internal records obtained by KSAT Investigates show. <\/p>\n

The sequence of events that culminated with the February indefinite suspension of Sgt. Kelly Bender is now at the center of a federal retaliation complaint.<\/p>\n

KSAT Investigates<\/p>\n

Hard-hitting journalism from the KSAT Investigates team delivered straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n

A monthslong KSAT Investigates review of disciplinary records, internal complaints and civil service appeal documents found the investigation leading to Bender\u2019s firing began after she raised concerns about the workplace conduct of then-Lt. John Zuniga. <\/p>\n

Bender, a 23-year veteran of SAPD, was indefinitely suspended and effectively terminated after city officials concluded she intentionally approved inaccurate timekeeping records connected to a training event attended by several crime scene investigators last summer.<\/p>\n

The city maintains Bender knowingly falsified records. Her attorney argues the punishment was excessive and retaliatory.<\/p>\n

According to city disciplinary records, three crime scene investigators attended a multi-day training seminar last July in Central Texas. <\/p>\n

While the employees\u2019 leave forms reflected off-site training, entries in SAPD\u2019s internal work-status tracking system listed them under different categories, including special assignment and substitute employment, records show.<\/p>\n

SAPD investigators contend the discrepancies created an unnecessary demand for overtime staffing and that the training had not been properly authorized.<\/p>\n

Bender was indefinitely suspended for rules violations including conduct prejudicial to good order, discipline records show.<\/p>\n

Attorney Ben Sifuentes. (KSAT)<\/p>\n

However, Bender\u2019s attorney, Ben Sifuentes, claims the incident amounted to a supervisor attempting to improve the skills of her staff and the time off paperwork had been handled the same way by previous SAPD supervisors. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s past practice. And, if it\u2019s past practice, it\u2019s not misconduct. What she was seeking was the enhancement of her troops,\u201d Sifuentes told KSAT Investigates. \u201cThat\u2019s what leaders do. You make your troops better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Complaint against lieutenant preceded inquiry<\/p>\n

Documents reviewed by KSAT Investigates show the department\u2019s scrutiny of Bender began after she reported workplace concerns involving Zuniga.<\/p>\n

Zuniga and an SAPD sergeant began looking into the timekeeping discrepancies late last July, records show.<\/p>\n

That inquiry came after Bender reported concerns about Zuniga\u2019s conduct to a captain, according to records obtained by KSAT.<\/p>\n

After Bender returned from her relief days in mid-May 2025, she noticed that Zuniga \u201cwas acting colder and more hostile toward me,\u201d records show.<\/p>\n

In a formal SAPD harassment complaint submitted last August, Bender described multiple incidents involving female crime scene investigators who raised concerns about Zuniga\u2019s behavior.<\/p>\n

SAPD Lt. John Zuniga was the subject of multiple complaints about his behavior at work. He retired weeks after Chief William McManus issued no disciplinary action against him. (KSAT)<\/p>\n

According to the complaint, one female CSI told Bender the lieutenant\u2019s actions at a crime scene made her uncomfortable. <\/p>\n

Another CSI told Zuniga, \u201cSir, you\u2019re in my space,\u201d while they were at a scene, the complaint states.<\/p>\n

Bender wrote that she began running interference between Zuniga and female CSIs at major scenes to prevent him from invading their personal space.<\/p>\n

The complaint also described an incident in which a crime scene investigator reported that Zuniga aggressively wagged his finger in her face while ordering her to \u201cbe quiet and move.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the department wanted you to have kids, they would pay for them,\u201d Zuniga remarked to a female trainer in a separate interaction, the complaint states.<\/p>\n

Lieutenant cleared, sergeant fired<\/p>\n

SAPD\u2019s Internal Affairs Unit investigated the allegations against Zuniga, records show.<\/p>\n

In January, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus determined no disciplinary action would be taken against the lieutenant. Less than three weeks later, Zuniga retired from SAPD, according to records.<\/p>\n

Days after Zuniga\u2019s retirement, McManus moved forward with Bender\u2019s indefinite suspension. <\/p>\n

According to Sifuentes, the punishment exceeded the recommendation made by the department\u2019s own disciplinary review board: the Chief\u2019s Complaint and Administrative Review Board (CCARB). <\/p>\n

\u201cEven the people who initiated the complaint against her recommended a suspension of only three days,\u201d Sifuentes said.<\/p>\n

McManus declined KSAT\u2019s request for an interview.<\/p>\n

In a written statement, an SAPD spokesperson said the chief does not discuss disciplinary cases once final discipline has been imposed and noted the chief is not bound by recommendations from the department\u2019s review board.<\/p>\n

Federal retaliation complaint remains active<\/p>\n

Bender is no longer pursuing a civil service appeal of her termination and retired from SAPD Feb. 4 \u2014 the same day she was handed the indefinite suspension.<\/p>\n

The move allows her to access pension and retiree health benefits that would not be available to her if the appeal was ongoing, Sifuentes pointed out. However, a federal employment complaint filed by Bender alleging discrimination and retaliation remains active.<\/p>\n

The complaint states that Zuniga removed Bender as a training supervisor in May 2025, after she accused him of harassing female CSIs.<\/p>\n

Bender was then transferred out of CSI altogether last August, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of the above actions by the SAPD have created an intolerable hostile work environment. Instead of transferring Lt. Zuniga out of the CSI unit, I was victimized by being transferred and I was not protected against retaliation,\u201d the complaint states.<\/p>\n

The city continues to defend its decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe City does not discriminate or retaliate. This matter is now with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for review. We believe the EEOC will find that the discipline was supported by the misconduct, which included falsifying documents,\u201d city spokesman Brian Chasnoff said via email.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe City stands by the chief\u2019s discipline. The investigation found that Sergeant Bender falsified documents by intentionally approving inaccurate time forms and entering inaccurate records for employees who attended outside training on city time without the required approval. This was not an inadvertent clerical error. It was intentional,\u201d Chasnoff said in a second statement sent to KSAT via email.<\/p>\n

Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by KSAT – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 A veteran San Antonio Police Department sergeant was fired for submitting inaccurate employee time forms…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":918897,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5133],"tags":[5229,86578,31872,7202,7203,7725,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,45896],"class_list":["post-918896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-america","tag-broken-blue","tag-ksat-investigates","tag-san-antonio","tag-sanantonio","tag-sapd","tag-texas","tag-tx","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-william-mcmanus"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116879532182143477","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918896","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=918896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918896\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/918897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=918896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=918896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=918896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}