Midland deputy fired

MIDLAND Criminal charges were taken off the table, but that didn’t save five Midland County deputies from trouble after giving a waitress an AR-15 and having her pose with it on top of a squad car in Round Rock earlier this month.

Though Williamson County decided against pressing any charges against the deputies in connection to the Aug. 10 incident, all five were punished by it, Midland County Sheriff Gary Painter said in a news conference Wednesday. Painter said he fired deputy Daniel Subia at 9 a.m. Wednesday for giving the waitress the assault rifle, while deputies Miguel Ramos, Chris Evans and Ron Wright were given three days off the job without pay. Deputy Art Nunez, who stayed inside the Twin Peaks restaurant that night, was given a written reprimand for his role in what Painter called an "embarrassment" for the sheriff’s department.

"I am very embarrassed by what had happened, and I am very hurt at the same time," Painter said. "In this particular incident, people got stupid, pretty quick. I am mortified by it."

Painter said the deputies were in Round Rock for training on Aug. 10. According to a news release and incident report from Round Rock police officer Eric Poteet, the deputies were at Twin Peaks at 100 Louis Henna Blvd. One of them asked waitress Vanda Purvis to come outside and pose in front of one of their squad cars for photos.

The incident report said four peace officers from Travis County, Williamson County and the Manor Police Department saw the plain-clothed deputies handing Purvis the rifle before Manor police officer Brian Wells flagged down one of Round Rock’s officers and told them what he saw.

Several Round Rock police officers swarmed the area after hearing about the assault rifle, the report said. Painter said "they did exactly what they were supposed to do" and that his deputies would have done the same thing if an AR-15 was being carried around like that.

Painter was particularly irked by part of the incident report, where it stated Evans and Wright told a Round Rock investigator "they would hope for some form of professional courtesy" while questioning them. Painter said that was part of the reason those two were suspended.

The photos of Purvis were taken on a Midland County Sheriff’s Office-owned camera, the report said.

Painter said the posing and photo shoot lasted all of 30 seconds. He showed the media the photo that was taken before Round Rock officers intervened.

"I don’t think it was worth somebody’s job," Painter said.

Purvis, reached at her Round Rock home by phone, said she was aware of the photo being released to the media but was not did not know why the police would do that. When asked further about what happened Aug. 10, she said she was going to call the Odessa police about it and get back with the Odessa American reporter before hanging up.

The photo was released by the Midland County Sheriff’s Office.

Twin Peaks is a restaurant chain that advertises itself as having "twice as much fun as other restaurants" on its website, placing that phrase next to a model dressed in a crop top holding a mug of beer and a meal in a basket.

Twin Peaks restaurant manager Sam Baiocco declined comment.