“If Uvalde had asked the proper questions, especially on the chief position, the high-ranking position, I would have said, ‘I don’t think (Arredondo was) capable of running even a small department.’ But they never asked.” “I don’t think I would, based on the performance,” he said. If the school district had called, Cuellar said, he would not have recommended Arredondo for the job. Uvalde CISD spokeswoman Anne Marie Espinoza did not respond to questions about whether the Uvalde school district was aware of Arredondo’s demotion in Webb County when it hired him.Ĭuellar said Uvalde CISD never called him directly to ask about Arredondo’s job performance in Webb County.
Six days later, a human resources coordinator at Uvalde CISD emailed Arredondo’s previous employer, United ISD in Laredo seeking “a copy of his service record,” according to emails obtained by the San Antonio Express-News.Īrredondo worked as a police captain in the Laredo school district for about three years after leaving the Webb County Sheriff’s Office in 2017. 13, 2020, the school district announced on Facebook that it was “proud to introduce our District Chief of Police, Pedro ‘Pete’ Arredondo,” a native of Uvalde who was focused on “providing safety for all students, staff and our community.” Records show that officials at Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District might not have fully reviewed Arredondo’s employment history when the district hired him as its police chief in 2020. Neither Arredondo nor his attorney responded to messages seeking comment. 8, 2014, letter from Cuellar to Arredondo said he was being “reassigned from Assistant Chief to Commander.” Two days earlier, someone had written “demotion” in a payroll worksheet for Arredondo. Garza, who is now police chief in Eagle Pass, declined to comment.Īn Oct. “They were hoping he would get a job in Laredo.”Ĭuellar said Arredondo clashed with then-Webb County Sheriff’s Chief Fred Garza, who was the office’s second in command and Arredondo’s supervisor. “Even in Uvalde PD, when he was over there, they disliked the (expletive) out of him,” Cuellar said.