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Former Cedar Park firefighter alleges misconduct, cites open‑records review halting investigation
Summary
At the council's public‑comments period, former Cedar Park firefighter Dean Doscher accused fire department leadership of falsifying records and withholding evidence. City staff said outside counsel is investigating but that an open‑records request currently under review by the Texas Attorney General limits further action.
Dean Doscher, a former Cedar Park firefighter, told the City Council during the public‑comment period that he was terminated after refusing to accept “Chief Mallanger’s lies” and accused department leadership of falsifying training records, withholding and destroying evidence and blocking fire apparatus during an August 2023 incident.
Doscher said a formal complaint was filed on April 7, 2025, and that “it’s been over a hundred days with no investigatory report,” and urged the council to hold a vote to release records he says prove his innocence.
City officials responded during the meeting. A city representative said the council had engaged outside counsel to investigate the allegations but that an open‑records request filed by Doscher’s father required review by the Texas Attorney General’s office. Staff said the AG’s review of what must and may be disclosed prevents the city from moving the internal investigation forward until that opinion is issued.
The official also noted that Doscher was indefinitely suspended (referred to at the microphone as a termination) on Oct. 5, 2023, later appealed, and that an independent hearing examiner conducted seven days of testimony and found misconduct substantiated across three separate fire incidents. The city representative said records from that hearing are public records available upon request but that the ongoing AG review limits further disclosure or investigative steps at this time.
Doscher asked the council why the city would not vote to release records and called the situation “another Cedar Park cover up.” He said he would remain at the meeting if anyone wished to respond. City staff reiterated they were “eager to complete” the outside review once the Attorney General’s guidance on the open‑records request is resolved.
The council took no formal action at the meeting; staff described the status and the legal constraint created by the pending AG review as the reason further steps are paused.
