SAN ANTONIO - When the retaining wall in the Rivermist subdivision collapsed last month city inspectors admitted they didn't know the wall was even there. Now, the News 4 WOAI Trouble Shooters have uncovered new concerns that city inspectors aren’t doing enough to keep you safe inside your home.
When your house is under construction city inspectors are supposed to inspect things like the plumbing and electrical wiring to make sure it's done right. But we've uncovered some inspectors are the target of a criminal investigation for allegedly taking bribes from contractors in exchange for approving work they never checked.
Brigitte Garza worries her remodeled home may not be safe.
“We’re remodeling this house for our family and it was supposed to be safe. And it was supposed to be in good working condition," said Garza.
The work was passed by city code inspectors. So Brigitte was stunned when home builder Duane Hilburn came by and looked at the work.
“I wanted to know if it was inspected because it was obvious it was not up to code," said Hilburn.
That's when Brigitte filed a complaint with the city, claiming the work was not up to code and accusing the inspectors of being in bed with the contractor.
“They never came out and inspected our plumbing. They didn't inspect our electrical. They didn't inspect our foundation. They didn't inspect anything from this house because our contractor was in cahoots with the inspectors from the City of San Antonio," said Garza.
A spokesman for the city says its inspectors did do their job in this case and defends the inspector's work.
But while digging into this case the Trouble Shooters discovered several other inspectors at the city's planning and development department are the target of an ongoing criminal investigation by the San Antonio Police Department.
“There's a criminal investigation into some of your employees that have accepted bribes for passing work they didn't look at. What do you want to say about that," asked News 4 WOAI Trouble Shooter Brian Collister?
“I want to say this. The city will not tolerate any unethical conduct on the part of our employees and we will take immediate action," said Rod Sanchez with the San Antonio City Planning and Development Department.
Sanchez says he cannot give additional details about his inspectors because the case is still open.
“We did get a complaint which we immediately looked into. I can tell you there are four people under criminal investigation right now within our organization. Two of those people have resigned in lieu of termination, but the criminal investigation continues," said Sanchez.
We asked if some code inspectors were not doing their job? Are the people living in the homes they were supposed to be inspecting safe?
“We've gone back and looked at several of these sites and we've addressed those issues," said Sanchez.
Because this is an ongoing criminal investigation, the city is not naming the inspectors or releasing the addresses of the homes they're accused of not inspecting. We'll stay on this story and get that information as soon as it's available.
