MEDINA COUNTY, Texas – A former Medina County sheriff’s deputy said she was terminated last fall after raising concerns about an unlawful search conducted by a fellow deputy.
Alexis Mireles (formerly Spengler) was formally relieved of her duties in early September, days after meeting with Sheriff Randy Brown.
In a recording of that Aug. 29 meeting provided by Mireles to KSAT Investigates, Brown said he had always supported Mireles but that her performance on the job had made her a danger to herself.
“I’m not going to sit here and have a long discussion, but you are no longer going to be working here. And I’m sorry it’s come to this, Alexis,” said Brown on the recording. “It’s just we’ve come to a point I’m worried you’re going to get hurt. I really am.”
Mireles, whose latest tenure with the Medina County Sheriff’s Office lasted a year after previously working at several area law enforcement agencies including MCSO, responded to Brown on the recording that the chain of command in his office was broken.
“I tried my best to follow the chain and it just... numerous times when I was asking for the prior meetings, I was, I don’t want to say ignored, but my mistake was never printed in an email,” Mireles said on the recording.
What happened in north Medina County in late June?
Mireles told KSAT she and other deputies responded to a disturbance call at a home on County Road 367 in late June.
While speaking with a woman in the garage of the home, Mireles said another female deputy at the scene saw a substance on top of a counter and then opened a cabinet underneath the counter.
“I said ‘you need a search warrant.’ She said ‘no I don’t.' I said ‘you do.’ And she opened it, pulled it out, it was a container. She opened it, smelt it, put it back in, closed it. And that was the end of the discussion,” Mireles said.
Mireles told KSAT the incident was captured on body-worn cameras and that she reported it to the agency’s “brass.”
“And that’s when all the issues started to progress, was after that,” Mireles said.
Reached via telephone for comment, Brown defended the female deputy reported by Mireles, stating she has a strong presence about her and that he would be surprised if she conducted an unlawful search.
Brown said that he was previously unaware of Mireles' allegations and that his administration was now reviewing body-worn camera footage from the day in question.
He told KSAT he assigned several field training officers to Mireles, even going as far as to change their schedules to work specifically with Mireles, in an attempt to correct her work performance issues.
Brown said after Mireles was terminated, he offered her a job as an evidence technician, as it would allow her to continue working for the sheriff’s office but in a position that does not interact with the public.
Mireles completed the requirements of the Field Training Officer program in late January 2024, but was placed back into it on June 25, her personnel file shows.
The file includes seven complaint letters against her, written by fellow deputies and MCSO supervisors.
In one incident, Mireles was accused of inadvertently pointing her unholstered service weapon at the back of a fellow deputy for a lengthy period of time while they ran after a suspect in the woods.
In a separate complaint, a deputy wrote that Mireles lacked confidence and showed indecisiveness during rapid response training at a Medina County middle school.
All seven complaint letters, however, were turned in after the supposed June 28 search, records show.
“It’s disgusting,” said Mireles when asked by KSAT about how other members of MCSO described her.
Mireles said she attempted to have the Texas Municipal Police Association challenge her September 2024 termination, only to learn she had been paying for a reserve membership and was therefore not eligible for that service.
“Taking that away and me having to withdraw from my retirement, it just put a real strain on us financially,” Mireles said.
MCSO lieutenant recommended for retraining after unlawful search
In an unrelated incident, a Medina County sheriff’s lieutenant was recommended for retraining in November after being criminally investigated for a 2023 search of a residence.
Prosecutors in Medina County dismissed a felony charge last year against a car theft suspect in that case, amid accusations that Lt. Cathy Gonzalez searched the man’s home in March 2023 without a warrant, records show.
Audrey Gossett Louis, district attorney for the 81st Judicial District, wrote on Nov. 14 that there was insufficient evidence to support criminal intent by Gonzalez but that she should have known the search was unlawful, according to records viewed by KSAT.
Gonzalez completed an 18-hour course on Arrest, Search and Seizure on Dec. 10, less than a month after the criminal case was rejected, Texas Commission on Law Enforcement records show.
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.