Matthew Luckhurst was patrolling the streets of San Antonio by bicycle when he decided to play a cruel prank on a homeless man.
In May 2016, he put dog feces inside a sandwich and left it next to a man who was sleeping and receiving food from a local organization. Police Chief William McManus called the act vile and disgusting, and Luckhurst was fired. Months later, another internal investigation revealed a similar incident in the women’s bathroom of a police substation: unflushed feces and residue smeared on the seat and wall, a discovery that made a pregnant officer ill.
Luckhurst appealed both dismissals. He won the first in 2019 on a technicality involving deadlines, although the second was upheld. In 2022, he was fired from another department in Floresville after residents learned of his history. Even so, the small town of Benavides, Texas, appointed him police chief on June 1, and the city secretary hung up the phone several times when journalists tried to confirm the details.
