Former Sanger officer suing for retaliation was fired for allegedly falsifying report
A former Sanger police sergeant who’s suing his former supervisor and the city for sexual harassment and retaliation was fired for allegedly making false statements in a police report.
Former Sanger police Sgt. Agustin Villatoro accused Joshua Johnson, a commander in the police department, of sexually harassing him over the course of two years and retaliating against him after he rejected his alleged advances.
According to records obtained by The Bee, Villatoro was fired from the police department for making changes to another officer’s use-of-force report without permission in an Oct. 10, 2024, incident.
The other officer, whose name was redacted in police records delivered “distraction blows” to a suspect in an effort to restrain him, though Villatoro allegedly altered the use-of-force report to say that the arrest happened “without further incident.”
The suspect was injured before he was placed in a mental health hold and booked into Fresno County Jail, according to the department’s records.
Villatoro is also accused of making misleading statements pertaining to the incident, according to an order of termination, dated May 23, 2025.
“Your statements during the investigation were further undermined by body-worn camera footage from multiple officers’ present at the incident. The footage confirmed the use-of-force details that you had removed from the report. When confronted with this evidence, you continued to deny altering the substantive portions of the report, despite overwhelming proof to the contrary,” the department’s order to Villatoro reads.
In March, Sanger fire Chief Greg Tarascou met with Villatoro and his attorney, Brett Rutkowski, for a Skelly hearing, in which public employees can respond to proposed disciplinary action.
Tarascou detailed the hearing in a letter to the city manager, noting that Rutkowski voiced concerns about Villatoro’s Peace Officer Bill of Rights protections and perceived bias from Johnson, who had recently served as interim police chief and recommended Villatoro face discipline.
“Rutkowski states that Villatoro admitted that he should have submitted the required reports earlier, but this is not an offense that warrants termination,” Tarascou’s correspondence reads.
Villatoro filed a legal complaint against Johnson and the city in November accusing him of sexual harassment and engaging in “unwelcome sexual conduct” while Johnson served as Villatoro’s supervisor.
Villatoro says he was placed on leave in October 2024 over “concocted allegations” for not submitting to Johnson’s alleged advances, according to the complaint. The allegations were not specified in the complaint.
Attempts to reach Rutkowski for comment were unsuccessful.
This story was originally published February 23, 2026 at 5:07 PM.
