It's been four days since a Corpus Christi Police officer was arrested for theft and many are asking why is an officer accused of theft on paid administrative leave and what's the next step in this case.
On Friday, Travis Haecker, 32, was arrested on charges of theft from a person, credit card or debit card abuse, and misappropriation of fiduciary property. He was released on $127,500 bond.
KRIS 6 News went to Corpus Christi City Hall Tuesday morning in hopes of speaking with Chief Mike Markle about the case.
Unfortunately, he was not there but we found CCPD Assistant Chief David Blackmon, who attended Tuesday's meeting for the chief.
We asked the one question several viewers have been asking on our KRIS 6 Facebook page- Why is an officer, who is accused of theft, been placed on paid administrative leave.
According to Blackmon, when a police officer is under investigation, it's routine for the police department to place that officer on paid leave.
"Any time we look at an officer and we see that there's potentially some administrative violations, some department violations, or even criminal violations, we usually put them on administrative leave, which is with pay until we decide what we're going to do with that officer, whether it's a suspension or a termination." Blackmon said.
He also cleared up our concerns about the lack of information KRIS 6 News has received from the Police Department on this case.
On Monday morning, KRIS 6 News sent a list of questions about the case to the CCPD's Public Information Office, but they said they couldn't comment on the ongoing investigation.
Our question was if evidence in the case has been submitted to the Nueces County District Attorney's Office, what exactly is still pending in the investigation.
Blackmon explained there's still things that are being investigated.
"We had enough to file the charges with the District Attorney's office. They accepted them, but there's still work to be done on this case," Blackmon said.
In the meantime, Haecker is out bond.
He is accused of using a debit card belonging to the Corpus Christi Citizens' Police Academy Alumni organization to make $1,200 in cash withdrawals. Police believe he also used the card to make a purchase at Vape City and spent nearly $520 on an online gambling site called Crowns Coins Casino.
The court document says the money removed from ATMs was supposed to be donated to a scholarship fund honoring fallen CCPD officer Vicente Ortiz, Jr., who died on June 1, 2025, ten days after being struck while escorting a funeral procession on Kostoryz Road.
When we asked for his reaction to the allegations against Haecker and whether this is acceptable behavior of an officer, Blackmon said it was not.
"We hold our officers not only to the standard of the citizens, but we actually hold them to a higher standard," Blackmon added.
WATCH FULL INTERVIEW WITH CCPD ASST. CHIEF BLACKMON:
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