Southlake officer accused of photographing swastika sent it to civilian by mistake: police
One of the Southlake police officers fired in July over an incident involving a swastika had accidentally texted a photo of the drawing to a member of the public, according to police records.
Capt. James Preston Logan allegedly photographed Sgt. Jonathan Macheca smiling near a whiteboard drawing of a swastika and lightning bolts, a common symbol of white supremacy, according to documents obtained by the Dallas Morning News, which first reported the names of the officers involved. Logan texted the photo to members of the police department’s hiring board. One of the intended recipients had changed her phone number, and Logan ended up sending the photo to a private citizen.
The police department has not responded to the Star-Telegram’s request for copies of the records.
Macheca is accused of drawing the illustration while on break from hiring potential officers. He was joking around with a hiring board member at the time, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Southlake Police Department Chief James Brandon said in a July 28 news release that he was made aware of the incident on June 14 and immediately began an internal investigation. Brandon did not identify the two officers but said they “showed exceptionally poor judgment and a lack of leadership.”
“I know that their actions do not reflect the values of the men and women who serve and protect our community each day, our city leadership, our organization, or our community,” the chief said in the release.
Brandon called the drawing of the hate symbol “an inexcusable attempt at humor.”
Logan was fired July 11 and Macheca on July 17, the Morning News reported. They are accused of violating department policies including discrimination, unbecoming conduct and unlawful harassment, according to the documents.
In addition to the swastika and lightning bolts, the drawing included the letters SSRO, the Morning News reported. The letters appear to combine SRO for school resource officer with the Nazi SS, the designation for Adolf Hitler’s paramilitary organization, the documents said.
Logan worked with the department’s school resource division, according to a city of Southlake webpage which has been taken down, and Macheca worked with training and recruiting.
