TAOS, NM — A former Hondo police officer was fired and a San Antonio police officer was suspended after an off-duty, drunken encounter at Taos Ski Valley in northern New Mexico earlier this year. Village of Taos Ski Valley public safety officers responded on Jan. 6 to the resort base area after reports of two intoxicated people.
Body camera footage later obtained by KSAT Investigates shows the officers struggling to stand, arguing with responders and resisting efforts to get them medical help. The village released nearly two hours of video after a public records request. The footage became the basis for disciplinary action in Texas, including the firing of then-Hondo officer Skylynn Cisnero and a 15-day suspension for SAPD officer Taylor Thompson.
Video Shows Escalation
According to the footage, Thompson was described by one witness as “super intoxicated” and had trouble standing without leaning on a ski rack. Ski patrol was called in to treat a cut on his hand, and Thompson told responders he worked for SAPD and that he was law enforcement.
The video shows Thompson repeatedly insisting he was fine even as officers said otherwise and he knocked over objects. He later began crying while medics treated the wound and had to be helped into a seat so his hand could be bandaged. The footage also shows him being taken to a hospital for stitches after ski patrol told the department chief about the injury…