Published: August 21, 2008 04:10 pm            

City response to media frenzy over dog's traffic stop death

San Marcos — “There will be no firing.”

Those were the words of San Marcos Mayor Susan Narvaiz on Thursday at a press conference called to express support for the San Marcos Police Department and Officer Paul Stephens.

Stephens clocked local resident Michael Gonzales on Aug. 5 at speeds near 100 mph on IH-35 as Gonzales and his girlfriend Krystal Hernandez were rushing their teacup poodle Missy to an after-hours veterinary clinic in New Braunfels.

Gonzales has said he was frantic about his dog but was “disgusted” with Stephen’s conduct. At one point, the officer told him to “Chill. It’s just a dog. You can buy another one.”

Narvaiz said 17 minutes — not 20, as the couple claimed — had elapsed between the time Stephens initiated the traffic stop and the couple were released.

By that time, the dog was dead. Police Officer Joyce Bender, who was also at the scene, handled the dog and believed it was already deceased. Hernandez has said the dog bit her finger after Bender handled it, indicating it was still alive.

Narvaiz said which is correct will never be known, as a subsequent autopsy did not reveal an exact time of death.

She also said the community can learn from the situation, for example, by bringing local vets together to explore the possibility of an all-hours vet clinic here.

“How can we learn from this? How can we make it better? We’re doing that,” Narvaiz said.

The case has generated national media attention and spawned an Internet phenomenon. Narvaiz said she and other city personnel have received thousands of e-mails and phone calls since it was initially reported in the San Marcos Daily Record on Aug. 8. Though some were in support of Stephens, the overwhelming majority were not, she said.

“People like to respond more to negative media,” she said. “People are just looking for things they can get angry about.”

Even calling Thursday’s press conference was a gamble, Narvaiz said. “We didn’t know, are we making it worse?”

Given the flow of criticism, she said her “greatest fear” is that “no one will be stopped (for traffic offenses) for fear of what happened today,” and that “good people are going to stop stepping up” to serve their communities.

In answer to one reporter’s question, Narvaiz attempted to reverse the situation.

“What would you have done?” she asked, if the reporter had been in Stephen’s shoes.

On further questioning, Narvaiz acknowledged that police officers are held to a “higher standard” than other professions including journalism.

At the same time the media and Internet frenzy was building, Narvaiz said some people have telephoned death threats to Stephens and his family. “No one deserves death threats,” she said.

Narvaiz said Stephens has been with the force for 15 months, joining after a military career which included service in Iraq. She said he has “no previous history of complaints” before the one filed by Gonzales and Hernandez.

In-car videos from Stephen’s and Bender’s patrol cars were released shortly after the incident and copies were made available at Thursday’s press conference.

Due to technical difficulties, the Record has not yet posted those videos online.

Narvaiz also released a letter of apology from Williams to Gonzales “on behalf of the officers of the San Marcos Police Department.”

Narvaiz made her comments flanked by City Manager Rick Menchaca, Council members Pam Couch and Daniel Guerrero and city spokesperson Melissa Millecam.

Chief Williams did not attend the press conference and there were no uniformed officers in the council chambers.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.