Talks with previous candidate fell apart, but official says a shooting incident was not the reason
PRESIDIO — A headline in The Big Bend Sentinel two weeks ago noted the hiring of Daniel Zurita of San Antonio as the new Presidio police chief after the City Council met in closed session June 18 to discuss candidates and voted to hire him. But in a turn of events, the city hired Presidio County Precinct 2 Constable Adan “Pugi” Covos as the new chief on Monday. Covos was one of three candidates seeking the position.
The Sentinel discovered — shortly after the newspaper went to press — that not only had Zurita not accepted the job, he said he didn’t know what the compensation would be and had other questions about the terms of the position. At the same time, The Sentinel discovered that San Marcos police arrested Zurita for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in April 2015 after he fired his pistol several times into an 18-wheeler on Interstate Highway 35 while serving as a Wilson County reserve deputy. He was released the same day on a surety bond and all charges were never filed in court, Hays County records show.
The Sentinel updated its story online about the incident and reported that Presidio City Administrator Pablo Rodriguez was unaware of the shooting.
Zurita told The Sentinel that the driver of the 18-wheeler sideswiped his car, and he pulled in front of it assuming they would stop to survey the damage. However, Zurita said the 18-wheeler rammed his car, he was dragged on the highway as he was trying to exit his vehicle, and the driver was attempting to ram him again when he fired to try and stop the truck.
A Bexar County deputy was also at the scene attempting to help him, he said. When San Marcos police arrived, they arrested him because he was not in a patrol car or in uniform, and officers wanted to make sure who he was and what had happened, Zurita said. “I survived that incident, but it was pretty grueling,” he said. “He was trying to kill me.”
The Sentinel filed an open records request for the arrest and incident reports with the San Marcos Police Department, which then asked for an attorney general opinion to withhold the records. Since no conviction resulted from the arrest, the department has the right to withhold the records except for “basic information,” which it did not provide.
Rodriguez said he spoke with Zurita and felt comfortable he was “cleared” of the shooting incident, but that he couldn’t come to terms with other provisions of employment. “We could not come to a mutual understanding, so I withdrew the offer,” he said. The city administrator said he then hired Covos and did not need the approval of the City Council.
Covos will be the fourth chief of police the city has had since last year. In the fall of 2023, former Chief of Police Margarito Hernandez resigned. Damian Hernandez took over the department two weeks later but resigned in February. The City Council appointed Erik Rodriguez in April, but Rodriguez resigned a month later, citing personal matters.
Covos — who also worked for the Presidio ISD police before today’s appointment — won the Democratic Primary in March and with no Republican contenders, is set to continue his position as Presidio County constable with a new term in January. Since constable is an elected position, he can continue to serve in that role as well as police chief.
“I’m excited for the move up on the job,” Covos said Monday. “That’s where I started my career back in 2009. I started as a Presidio PD officer and worked there for a year and half. After that I started working for Presidio ISD police and just left that job to take the chief job.”
He said he was prepared to tackle the administrative duties as chief. “I have a lot of connections in Brewster County, Fort Stockton, and Alpine” to ask for help if needed, he said.
This story was updated to include comments from Covos and clarify that he would continue as constable.