SAPD fired Matthew Luckhurst in 2020 after two separate poop-related incidents. Credit: Courtesy of San Antonio Police Department
The former San Antonio police officer accused of feeding a homeless man a sandwich stuffed with dog feces is now the chief of police of the small South Texas town of Benavides.
One-time SAPD officer Matthew Luckhurst was appointed top cop in the town of about 1,100 people on June 1, Benavides City Clerk Tiffany Bazan told the Current. Benevides City Council discussed and voted on appointing Luckhurst as the town’s new chief of police on April 30, public records show.
Prior to his promotion, Luckhurst worked as one of the two officers in town and earned a School-Based Law Enforcement Officer license in April 2024, public records show.
Luckhurst was terminated from the San Antonio Police Department in 2020 following two poop-related incidents.
In 2016, SAPD investigators accused Luckhurst of giving a homeless man a sandwich filled with dog shit while on patrol. A month later, Luckhurst found himself in another stinky situation over allegations he took a dump in a SAPD women’s restroom without flushing and rubbed a “brown substance with the consistency of tapioca” on the toilet seat after a female officer asked for the facilities to be kept clean.
Although Luckhurst avoided being fired over the first incident on a technicality, SAPD canned the officer in 2020 over the second.
Luckhurst subsequently found employment with the Floresville Police Department before being fired in 2022 amid public uproar over reporting on his rehiring in the Alamo City bedroom community.
Benavides Mayor Ramiro Saenz was unavailable for immediate comment on Luckhurst’s promotion. However, Benavides’ prior police chief, Andre Hines, previously told the Current that Luckhurst met employment standards upon his hiring.
“As required by the State of Texas, we have to do a background check,” Hines said. “And so when [Luckhurst] was applying for employment here with the City of Benevides, we request all information from these previous agencies that he has worked for.”
San Antonio chalk artist Lakey Hinson broke the story about Luckhurst’s latest promotion.
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nimbycile on June 18th, 2026 at 11:07 UTC »
This is why police officers need to buy individual professional liability insurance like many other professions. Yes the municipalities may have to pay higher salaries to offset the cost of insurance, but once someone fucks up, they become too high of a risk to insure and then they no longer become officers anywhere -- instead of the current situation of just resigning and moving one town over.
carlosdangertaint on June 18th, 2026 at 11:06 UTC »
So his next job will be in the White House?
Same_Mood_8543 on June 18th, 2026 at 11:02 UTC »
The big promotion is being the chief of the other guy. Literally. It's a two man police force in a town smaller than my middle school.