Shocking revelations about the behavior of former APD officer Leonardo Quintana were revealed Thursday. He is fighting to get his job back after being fired for a drinking and driving crash. Quintana shot and killed a teen in May of last year. He is now being sued by the victim's family.
Former nine-year APD veteran Leonardo Quintana appeared relaxed, smiling at times as his supervisors revealed a list of dirty laundry.
Quintana was arrested on January 12, when a Leander officer saw him trying to pry his car off rocks in a traffic circle as if trying to drive away from the crash scene.
It was the apparent climax to hours of drinking. An internal affairs investigator testified that the night before, Quintana met a group of officers at the DK Sushi Bar in Austin where he drank a few beers and sake bombs. Quintana then drove to the Palazio Men's club and drank more than five beers and downed some shots. At 2 a.m. he drove to a detective's house in Leander and drank more beer. He left at 5 a.m. with a fellow female officer for a sexual encounter. He crashed on the way.
Quintana had a gun with him the entire time.
"He said looking back he should not have driven," said Sgt. Justin Newsom, internal affairs investigator.
APD Internal Affairs Sgt. Justin Newsom testified that Quintana had a blood alcohol level of .192 at the crash scene. Six hours later, it registered at a .088 which is still above the legal limit of .08.
Quintana admitted that he had developed a drinking problem while on a 15-day suspension for not activating his dash camera when he shot and killed Nathaniel Sanders in May of 2009. The morning before he went out drinking he was involved in a six-hour deposition with the Sanders' family lawyer about the shooting.
"He had mentioned it to his friends that he had been drinking too much and needed to control it," Newsom said.
Quintana's supervisors testified the event on January 12, was the final straw after a string of concerning behavior. The first day after being back from suspension regarding the shooting incident, Quintana posted a picture of himself in uniform on Facebook holding an AR-15 with the message "I'm back."
Quintana's supervisor at the time, Sgt. Stephen Fleming, said he felt it gave the wrong perception.
"'I have a gun. I'm back at work.' It's almost trying to say. The perception saying, that 'I'm ready to go at it again, bring it on, bring on the bad guys,'" Sgt. Stephen Fleming said.
Austin Police Association President Wayne Vincent stands behind Quintana.
"For the life of me I don't believe Lenny was trying to send some cynical message out there. This was a Facebook for his friends," said Vincent.
Vincent says Quintana was under a great deal of stress and was undergoing counseling. He also says other officers have not been fired for getting a DWI.
"It's really a tragic thing here," Vincent said.
Quintana will go to trial in Williamson County for the DWI in November.
Quintana was cleared of any criminal charges in the Nathaniel Sanders shooting. The Sanders family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Quintana and the City of Austin. Back in July, the city council rejected a proposed $750,000 settlement. The case will likely go to trial sometime next year.
