Former San Marcos police officer linked to deadly crash loses appeal to get his job back

Embattled former San Marcos police Sgt. Ryan Hartman, who was fired in January, will not be allowed to return to the force, a hearing examiner ruled last week.

Hartman, who had worked for the department since 2007, has been under scrutiny since June 2020 when he was involved in a deadly collision while off-duty in Lockhart, and after using a stun gun on a civilian during a traffic stop in January 2021.

He faces two separate lawsuits over those incidents: one filed by crash survivor Pam Watts and the other by Albian Leyva, who alleges that Hartman used excessive force on him during the traffic stop.

However, Hartman was fired from the police force because of misconduct related to deficiencies in duties and insubordination, San Marcos city officials have said. An internal investigation by police Cmdr. Lee Leonard found several instances in which Hartman failed to complete paperwork.

June 10, 2020: Woman sues after San Marcos cop who ran stop sign in deadly crash stays on force

The American-Statesman attempted to reach Hartman’s attorney but was unsuccessful.

Under the local government code, a police officer who has been given indefinite suspension can appeal that punishment to an independent third party. That hearing took place in April over two days in San Marcos with arbitrator Bill Detwiler.

During the hearing, several witnesses from the San Marcos Police Department, including Leonard, testified about Hartman's misconduct related to his performance as a sergeant, including failing to complete police officer evaluations and field reports.

Cmdr. Tiffany Williams, who worked with Hartman, testified in April that Hartman had long-standing time management issues and that he still had several incomplete police officer evaluations and other reports.

Williams had tried to strategize with Hartman about how to solve his issues and offered to help him with his reports by taking some tasks off his plate, she said. But even then, he was still unable to do his job, she said.

Previous coverage: Former San Marcos police officer involved in deadly crash, fired for misconduct, wants job back

“I had nothing left in my tool bag to offer him,” Williams said in April.

During that hearing, Hartman admitted having time management and organizational issues, which he said were exacerbated by the June 10, 2020, crash that left one woman dead.

Authorities who investigated the crash said Hartman, who was off-duty in his personal pickup, was speeding when he ran a stop sign and collided with Pamela Watts and her partner, Jennifer Miller, at the Texas 130 frontage roa and Maple Street in Lockhart.

Miller died at the scene, but Watts survived with severe injuries.

An open container of beer was later discovered in Hartman’s center console, according to the incident report. Police suspected Hartman of driving while intoxicated and charged him with criminally negligent homicide.

But his blood toxicology report, which was ordered hours after the crash, came back clean, and a Caldwell County grand jury declined to indict him in December 2020.

Hartman, in emotional testimony in April, said he had been suffering from mental health issues related to the crash that were affecting his home and work life, and he said that had contributed to the delays in his administrative paperwork.

A letter from Hartman's psychiatrist, written three months after his suspension, said he had been diagnosed with trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety in relation to the 2020 crash. Hartman said he had started seeing the doctor immediately after the crash and has been going to therapy since then.

The appeal: San Marcos officer fired for misconduct appeals for job back; arbitrator to make final decision

He also testified that after the June 2020 crash he received a lot of hate mail and lacked sleep, which threw off his focus.

Detwiler in his ruling Thursday concluded that Hartman “had and has long-standing time management and responsiveness deficiencies both before and after his vehicular accident.”

“These arguments do not mitigate the facts in evidence that Hartman failed to timely respond to orders or to complete reports as required,” Detwiler wrote in a report.

Watts, who had been pushing for Hartman’s ouster and ban from policing for two years, said she was relieved after learning the news Friday but remained concerned that he could continue to work in another agency.

“I'm frustrated San Marcos officials did not investigate, nor discipline, Hartman for the open-container negligent crash he caused that killed Jen, and it's astonishing that, instead, his failure to file paperwork in a timely manner was the cause of his dismissal,” she said.

San Marcos city officials told the American-Statesman that Hartman's firing from the San Marcos Police Department is permanent. However, Chapter 143 of the Texas Local Government Code gives Hartman an opportunity to appeal this decision to a district court under very limited circumstances. He must file an appeal within 10 days of Thursday's decision.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Former San Marcos police officer Ryan Hartman won't get his job back