SAN ANTONIO -- A San Antonio police officer, fired earlier this year after a brawl and shooting outside a south-side bar, lost his service weapon and had cocaine in his car during the incident, according to termination paperwork released by the city this week.
Robert Romo, 29, was suspended indefinitely for a second time in February, shortly after returning to the department from a previous indefinite suspension for a 2013 DWI arrest.
He will not be criminally charged for the Oct. 2015 incident, which included his friend being shot by a still-unknown gunman, an SAPD spokesman confirmed this week.
According to Romo's termination paperwork, he allowed the friend to retrieve his city-issued handgun from his car prior to the fight and carry it inside Mustang Sally's, a bar on the 3400 block of Roosevelt Avenue. The friend was later shot in the elbow during a brawl involving Romo outside the bar.
The handgun went missing during the fight, according to the paperwork. An SAPD spokesman confirmed Thursday that Romo's service weapon has never been recovered.
Romo's friend later told internal affairs investigators that Romo "associated with known illegal drug users" and used illegal drugs while suspended following his DWI arrest.
During a search of Romo's personal vehicle after the shooting, investigators found a small bag containing cocaine.
"There wasn't a lesson learned from the first time. There was a second chance provided, and it was not taken advantage of," SAPD Chief William McManus said in February, days after terminating Romo a second time.
Romo did not respond to a request for comment left at his last known address on Thursday.
The DWI charge against Romo was dismissed last year after his attorney was able to prove the arresting officer lacked probable cause to stop Romo.
City Manager Sheryl Sculley released the following statement this week regarding Romo:
The vast majority of our police officers are outstanding employees who conduct themselves in a professional manner both on and off the job, and I am proud of that. However, when they don’t live up to the standards we set for them, it is necessary that we discipline them.