Former police sergeant placed on probation after pleading guilty to civil rights violation

McALLEN, TEXAS (ValleyCentral) — A former San Juan police sergeant who assaulted a suspect was placed on probation Friday.

During a hearing on Friday morning, Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane placed former San Juan police Sgt. Juan Pablo “J.P.” Galindo on probation for a year.

“I’d like to apologize for being in this situation,” Galindo said. “I put myself here.”

In December 2015, the San Juan Police Department responded to a call about a 17-year-old girl who had run away with her 19-year-old boyfriend.

The boyfriend, Victor Manuel Aguirre, lived with his grandmother near San Juan Municipal Park.

On the night of Dec. 14, 2015, police Officer Elias Lopez searched the grandmother’s apartment. Lopez found the girl, Stacy Torres, hiding in Aguirre’s bedroom.

“As I was handcuffing Stacey I noticed that she began to stiffen her arms and started pulling away from me,” Lopez wrote in a police report San Juan released under the Texas Public Information Act. “Stacey then made attempts to hug onto Victor.”

Lopez attempted to leave the apartment, but Aguirre punched him in the back of the head, according to the police report.

“At that point I turned around to face Victor, who by then had already charged at me swinging a second punch,” Lopez wrote in the police report. “I tried ducking that second punch but still got struck on the right side of my face with his forearm.”

Lopez requested backup. Galindo heard the call on his radio.

“All of a sudden you hear Officer Lopez screaming that he needed help,” Galindo said on April 26, 2016, when attorneys questioned him about the incident during an arbitration hearing. “He was screaming for his life and yelling.”

Galindo rushed to the scene. By the time he arrived, Aguirre had already been handcuffed.

As two other police officers walked Aguirre away from the apartment, Galindo pulled up. Aguirre attempted to confront him.

Galindo grabbed Aguirre by the shoulders and kneed him in the groin — hard. Aguirre screamed, and officers pushed him into a police car.

Less than 10 seconds had passed since Galindo arrived on scene.

Galindo said he’d used a “Pressure Point Control Tactic” approved by the police department.

“I decided to strike the femoral nerve on the inner of his thigh,” Galindo said, according to the arbitration transcript.

Aguirre, however, said Galindo actually struck him in the testicles.

After conducting an internal investigation, San Juan fired Galindo for using excessive force. Galindo appealed the decision.

In 2016, an arbitrator sided with Galindo.

“Based on all the testimony presented during the present arbitration hearing and in the Parties’ post-hearing briefs, this Hearing Examiner rules that Grievant Juan Pablo Galindo acted in ‘reasonable conformity’ to the training he has received,” according to an opinion dated July 20, 2016.

Galindo returned to work and received a promotion to sergeant.

In 2019, though, a federal grand jury indicted Galindo for violating Aguirre’s civil rights. San Juan suspended Galindo without pay.

The pandemic, which struck South Texas just a few months later, delayed the case for years.

Galindo had pleaded not guilty, but he couldn’t work in law enforcement while the case was pending. He switched careers and enrolled in college.

In January 2024 — eight years after the incident and four years after the indictment — Galindo decided to put the case behind him and struck a deal with prosecutors.

Galindo agreed to plead guilty to deprivation of rights under color of law, a federal misdemeanor, and surrender his law enforcement license. As part of his plea, Galindo admitted that he assaulted Aguirre by striking him in the testicles.

The series of events was an “emotional rollercoaster,” said his attorney, Douglas A. A’Hern, but Galindo took responsibility and tried to move on with his life.

“Mr. Galindo has chosen not to be bitter,” A’Hern said.