Arbitrator Reinstates Austin Cop Involved In Fatal Shooting Scandal Even After His Firing After Drunk Driving Arrest

Austin, Texas

"Arbitrator rules that officer's punishment for DWI was 'inconsistent' with that given to other officers."

The decision by Louise Wolitz of Austin, which city officials received Thursday, clears Quintana to immediately return to the force.

Quintana fatally shot Nathaniel Sanders II in an apartment complex parking lot in May 2009, and the subsequent investigation — Quintana was suspended for not turning on his patrol car camera — outraged some critics of the department who wanted harsher punishment.

It also led to ongoing scrutiny of Quintana, whose DWI arrest came about eight months after the shooting.

Wolitz ordered that Quintana receive a 15-day suspension for the drunken driving charge — his time off the force will count toward that — and receive back pay for the additional days he was unemployed.

In January, Williamson County authorities charged Quintana with drunken driving — the morning after he was questioned for several hours in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by Sanders' family.


Police have said that Quintana drove drunk, despite offers to stay at the home of a friend. They said blood tests showed that he had a 0.19 blood alcohol level at the time of his arrest, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08.

Source