Officer Smashes Girlfriend’s Face, Arbitrator Rules Against Him



photo of ex-SAPD Officer Justin Ayars
Justin Ayars – photo from KSAT 12

SAPD Officer Smashes Girlfriend’s Face

In May of 2018, San Antonio Police Officer, Justin Ayars, got into an argument with his girlfriend, Krista Cooper-Nurse. There are varying accounts but the final result is that Ayars used a rock to smash Cooper-Nurse’s face, fracturing her eye socket and sinus wall.  Ms. Cooper-Nurse had to have reconstructive surgery and still has numbness in her face. Ayars was subsequently fired from the police department but a grand jury failed to indict him.

Implausible Story

This whole story didn’t ring true from the beginning. Cooper-Nurse threw a bottle at Ayars but it hit the female friend. That female and her partner decided to leave and as they were getting into their car, Ayars comes out with blood on his face. They hurriedly wave him into the car and he asks to be taken to the police substation he works out of. Once there, he immediately starts crying.

Justin Ayars is a trained police officer. According to him, Cooper-Nurse, who only weighs 130 pounds, viciously attacked him. He grabbed her by the throat and threw her away from him. She again attacked him and he kicked her away.  He also claims that Cooper-Nurse hit him in the head with “a boulder.” When they told Ayars that Cooper-Nurse was in the hospital with a broken eye socket he said he didn’t know how that happened and that there was a lot he couldn’t remember.  Read Express News article.

Even having all this information and with knowing Cooper-Nurse was in the hospital with a broken eye socket, the investigators chose not to arrest Ayars. Instead, they decided to let the District Attorney’s Office handle it. I sure none of you regular citizens think they will let you slide this way.

Why Wasn’t He Charged with Assault?

For those of you who don’t know how a Grand Jury works, one of the attorneys from the District Attorney’s Office go in to give the evidence to the Grand Jury. All the Grand Jury gets to hear is what that attorney tells them and the only point of view they get is the point of view that the attorney presents. This is why Grand Juries so often go with what the District Attorney wants.

At the time, the District Attorney was Nico LaHood. According to Cooper-Nurse, she tried to get a restraining order but they wouldn’t give her one. She eventually did get a restraining order against Ayars.

Shocking Outcome

Since he wasn’t arrested or charged, Ayars had plenty of grounds to fight his termination.  But yesterday, in a surprise decision, one that is extremely rare, the arbitrator upheld Justin Ayars termination. He will not be able to get his job back with the San Antonio Police Department. Unfortunately, this doesn’t change the fact that he can still go work for some other agency. After all, he was never charged with the brutal assault he committed.  Read the KSAT 12 story here.

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