Former sheriff’s deputy working as Howl-O-Scream ‘scare character’ charged with assault

SAN ANTONIO – A former Bexar County sheriff’s deputy with a checkered past is facing charges after allegedly attacking a 14-year-old during a popular Halloween event.

The News 4 I-Team has obtained video of the incident that occurred at SeaWorld’s Howl-O-Scream in 2022. The former deputy was working in costume as a “scare character.”

The 31-year-old former deputy joined SeaWorld after being fired from the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office over allegations of excessive force and disabling body-worn cameras.

Video taken by a bystander at Howl-O-Scream shows former deputy Brandon Doege wearing a pig mask confronting a 14-year-old park visitor and then throwing him to the ground. The boy’s mother says that after the video cut, the boy’s grandfather came to his aid and was punched in the face by Doege.

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“My son, you see him trying to get away from this man and this man just following him. Then the guy just grabbed him and knocked him to the ground like he was nothing,” she said.

The family says they do not know what led to the incident.

Doege was arrested and court records show he is still awaiting trial on charges of injury to a child.

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It is not the first time that Doege has been involved in a violent incident. In 2018, while off duty, Doege stopped to help a woman along Highway 90, but ended up shooting her four times when she allegedly threatened him.

“She made a movement as if he felt like she was reaching for a gun, and then he discharged his firearm,” Medina County Sheriff Randy Brown said in a 2018 interview.

The unarmed woman survived and Doege was given a 30-day suspension after the shooting.

Then, in 2020, Doege was fired from the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office for allegedly assaulting an inmate at the jail after turning off his body-worn camera and another deputy’s body camera. Court records show he was charged with tampering with evidence.

“There are significant warning signs in this man’s past, and this all happened before he was hired by SeaWorld,” said the family’s attorney, Joe Dunn.

SeaWorld is also named in the lawsuit, telling News 4, “We do not comment on pending litigation.”

The I-Team contacted Doege’s attorney in Austin, who said they too could not comment.

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The family believes SeaWorld should conduct more thorough background checks on Howl-O-Scream employees.

“Other people going there, you just have to be safe because you don’t know who they’re hiring, you don’t know who’s behind the mask,” the teen’s mother said.

Court records show Doege’s trial is scheduled for next month.