SAN ANTONIO – A downtown hotel’s staff called authorities to report an off-duty San Antonio police lieutenant “completely wasted” in the lobby, according to suspension records.
The report states Lt. Paul Mendoza was in the lobby of the Wyndham Garden San Antonio/Riverwalk Museum Reach in February 2024.
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A bar employee told hotel staff he was trying to get Mendoza home, but Mendoza couldn’t tell him where he lived.
The bar employee said Mendoza was intoxicated and asked the hotel staff if Mendoza could “sleep it off.” The report states the bar employee told the hotel staff that Mendoza had a firearm on him.
The report states that hotel staff called the police after Mendoza tried to leave, but they were worried because he was stumbling.
Mendoza has been with SAPD since 1992, according to Texas Commission on Law Enforcement records. He will begin serving his 45-day suspension in October.
SAPD Sgt. Manuel Alaniz was also suspended, according to records. The records state Alaniz failed to use sound judgment by not making the scene of an officer-involved incident.
Alaniz, a 17-year veteran of SAPD, served a 10-day suspension in August 2024.
