Beaumont Police Traffic Division Lieutenant Gets Pre-trial Diversion Program in Deal for Drunk Driving Arrest

Beaumont, Texas

Beaumont police lieutenant has been cleared of criminal charges after going through a pre-trial intervention program.

Last March, a state trooper stopped Lieutenant Ray Beck in Jasper County.

The trooper arrested Beck for driving while intoxicated.

Beck agreed to 12 months in the pre-trial intervention program, which is described as an informal probationary period granted to first-time offenders.

It involves paying a fine and reporting to a probation officer.

If completed successfully, the case is dismissed.

Turns out the judge granted Beck an early discharge from the program.

Beaumont police report that Beck is the lieutenant over the department's traffic division.

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Marble Falls Police Officer Arrested for DWI, After Crashing Into Tree

Marble Falls officer arrested for DWI: kxan.com

Bertram, Texas

Bertram police arrested a Marble Falls police officer for DWI. Sgt. Brent Nichols, 48, was booked into the Burnet County Jail and has resigned his position effective immediately.

Officials said Nichols crashed a city-owned truck into a tree in Bertram.

Bertram Police Chief Ron Hall said a Bertram police officer was behind Nichols without emergency lights on when the crash occurred, and the officer's dashboard camera was rolling. That video is not available to view during the open investigation.

According to Bertram police, Nichols failed a field sobriety test and agreed to blow into a breathalyzer. Authorities would not release his blood-alcohol level.

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Happy Holidays

Fort Worth Police Officer Arrested on DWI Charge

Fort Worth, Texas

Police arrested one of their own officers early Thursday on suspicions that he was driving while intoxicated.

A police department news release reports:

"The DWI unit stopped Officer Domingo N. Martinez. The officer refused field sobriety evaluations and a search warrant was obtained for Martinez’s blood. Martinez was taken to a local hospital where the blood sample was collected. Martinez was then taken to the Fort Worth Police Department jail holding facility and booked in on a charge of suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Martinez was released from jail later Thursday after posting a $1,000.00 bond.

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Houston Police Officer Probed in Pill Mill Case

HPD Officer Probed in Pill Mill: MyFoxHOUSTON.com

Houston, Texas

A veteran Houston Police officer is the target of a federal and state investigation.

Daniel Muhammad, 40, is under investigation for allegedly running a pill mill, sources told FOX 26 News. That would be the distribution of prescription pills through a pharmacy or some other business for the specific purpose of selling pain medication to those who may not actually need it.

John Cannon with the Houston Police department confirmed Senior Officer Muhammad is being investigated criminally by the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Harris County District Attorney's office.

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Marble Falls Cop Investigated In Sexual Assault Case

Cop investigated in sex assault case: kxan.com

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Marble Falls, Texas

A Marble Falls police officer is on leave while the Texas Rangers investigate a sexual assault case.

Patrol officer John Paul Pedraza, 31, has been on administrative leave with pay since Dec. 14. Officials with the Texas Rangers and the Marble Falls police would not give any details about the case, saying only that the investigation stems from a questionable party allegedly attended by Pedraza.

Pedraza is being investigated over accusations he sexually assaulted a woman at a party.

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Killeen Officer Suspended Indefinitely for Multiple Violations

Kileen, Texas

A Killeen police officer is suspended indefinitely after an investigation revealed he violated various department rules and regulations.

The Killeen Police Department says Officer Tramel R. Bracey may have been engaged in criminal conduct in June 2010.

During an internal investigation, it was determined that Bracey had committed multiple violations of the Department's Code of Conduct, Local Government Rules, and certain Texas Penal Code statutes.

"The Killeen community places their trust in the Killeen Police Department, and Officer Bracey's actions violated that trust," said Killeen Police Chief Dennis Baldwin.

Bracey was previously suspended for allegedly exposing himself to a woman while on duty, but he was later reinstated.

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A Second Houston Police Officer's Suspension Over Racial Facebook Postings Upheld

Houston, Texas

Officer Candice Bradshaw, 27, who has been an HPD officer for three years, appealed her three-day suspension without pay, but the Houston Civil Service Commission shot down her request to reduce the punishment.

She told the panel that her postings about Hondurans were intended to be taken as a joke, as evidenced by a smiling face with a wink that she added to the end of one of her postings.

Bradshaw was suspended over two messages she posted in reply to Officer Deyna Carabajal's postings that singled out Hondurans. Officer Carabajal has also been suspended.

Carabajal posted that Hondurans were drunken, violent people whom she would haul to jail for looking at her in a certain way. She also posted a photograph of her police computer that displayed confidential information about people who had called police for help.

In one reply message, Bradshaw wrote, "Hondurans are the worst? I ranked El Salvadorians (sic) #1, then Hondurans ;o) "

When another message mentioned that a Honduran had tried to kill an officer's "work wife," Bradshaw replied by posting that, "Hondurans now take the top spot!!"

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Seguin Police Officer to Plead Guilty to Evidence Tampering Related to Solicitation of a Minor Allegations

Seguin, Texas

A Seguin Police officer has struck a plea deal with Guadalupe County prosecutors and will plead guilty to evidence tampering.

41-year old Fidel Carlos Castillo IV had been charged with solicitation of a minor and evidence tampering after he allegedly sent a text message to an underage girl, soliciting a sex act this past June. He was also accused of deleting text messages from his phone, leading to the evidence tampering charge, for which he will now plead guilty. Castillo will have to surrender his peace officer’s license, after serving 15 years as a police officer in Texas, and he faces sentencing on the 3rd degree felony evidence tampering charge. Which means he could face anywhere from probation to 2 to 10 years in prison. That sentencing hearing will be held sometime early next year.

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6 Fort Worth Police Officers Fired for Altering Traffic Tickets to Fraudulently Get Overtime on Federal Grant Program

Fort Worth, Texas

Six Fort Worth police officers were fired Wednesday after an investigation into whether traffic tickets were altered so officers could claim overtime pay under a federal grant program.

The firings are a result of criminal and administrative investigations begun in March into suspicions that some traffic patrol officers wrote fraudulent tickets under the city's Selective Traffic Enforcement Program.

The names of the fired officers and the number of years they were on the Fort Worth force are:

• Robert Peoples, 22.

• Patrick Aguilar, 18.

• James Dunn, 11.

• Maurice Middleton, 11.

• Marcus Mosqueda, seven.

• Ronald Wigginton, five.

Three other officers involved in the investigation resigned earlier. They were identified Wednesday night as Herman Young, 25 years on the force; Jonathan Johnson, eight years; and James McDade, five years.

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Texas State Trooper Found Guilty of Using Excessive Force

Dallas, Texas

A former state trooper was found guilty Friday of using excessive force during an October 2009 traffic stop on the Dallas North Tollway.

Arturo Perez, 43, was convicted of misdemeanor assault in connection with the traffic stop, which was recorded on dash-camera video. The drunken-driving suspect, Megan Fox, had hit a wall near Lemmon Avenue. She was not charged with any crimes.

Prosecutors with the Dallas County district attorney's public integrity unit said Perez committed a crime when he threw Fox face-first into a concrete highway divider, leaving her with a deep gash in her chin.

Misdemeanor court Judge Jane Roden will decide his sentence during a hearing on Thursday. He faces up to a year in the county jail but could receive probation.

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Fort Worth Police Officer Arrested For Sexual Assault

Fort Worth, Texas

A Fort Worth police officer was arrested on a sexual assault charge a day after he resigned from the force.

Daniel Lopez, a six-year veteran, was taken into custody Wednesday at a relative's home in Arlington.

His bail was set at $150,000, though he had yet to be jailed late Wednesday, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Lopez has been on restricted duty since last month when a criminal investigation began into the allegation against him.

Police would not reveal the circumstances of the accusation against Lopez.

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Dallas Police Officer Jailed In Houston For Driving Drunk

Houston, Texas

A Dallas police officer was arrested in Harris County early today on suspicion of driving while drunk. Senior Cpl. James Steen, 48, faces one class B misdemeanor count of driving while intoxicated.

Steen will be placed on administrative leave, pending administrative and criminal investigations.

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Houston Police Officer's Deeply Disturbing Racist Postings On Facebook Investigated

Houston, Texas

The Houston Police Department has launched an internal investigation after an officer posted on Facebook that she would arrest anyone of a certain nationality for merely looking at her in a certain way, along with numerous deeply disturbing comments.

Numerous postings by Officer Deyna Carabajal, 32, spelled out her dislike for Hondurans, including numerous posts where she suggested she would arrest them for various reasons.

"Zero tolerance 4 yall today," she wrote in one of her posts. "Y'all look at me wrong at all today -- y'all riding," she wrote. "Riding" is police lingo for taking a trip to jail.

Officer Carabajal, who joined the Houston Police Department in 2001, is assigned to patrol the Fondren Division in southwest Houston.

In some of her postings, the officer wrote her entries on Facebook while she said she was on duty being paid by taxpayers.

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Dallas Cop Fired For Putting Gun To Head of Urinating Man and Double-Dipping In Pay Thinks His Punishment Is Too Harsh

Dallas, Texas

A Dallas police officer accused of inappropriately putting his gun to the head of a man who was urinating in public and double-dipping on his off-duty employment has been fired.

Senior Cpl. Mike Jones has denied the allegations. He says he thinks he's being punished more harshly than officers who have committed more serious offenses.

Dallas Police Chief David Brown declined to comment on the case. He fired Jones on Friday.

The Dallas Morning News reports an internal investigation found Jones reported working off-duty jobs at the same time he was doing other police work and worked an off-duty job within 24 hours of calling in sick.

The incident involving the gun happened in July 2009 when Jones found the man urinating on a wall outside an apartment building.

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El Paso Settles Suit for $55k To Traumatized Couple After Cops Raided Home Looking For Son Already In Jail

El Paso, Texas

The couple that lived in military housing has since left El Paso, after what even the city manager calls a traumatic moment with police.

Paula and Ricky Bell found out their son was wanted by police, so they took him downtown and turned him in.

But days later, and while her son was still in jail, Paula says she was in the shower when police started banging on the door. Practically nude, she ran out to tell them to hold on for a minute but she says they didn't listen.

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Austin Police Officer Tackles Deaf Woman From Behind, Then Arrests Her For Ignoring His Commands To Stop

Austin, Texas

Esther Valdez is deaf. On June 16, 2009, the 24-year-old found herself in trouble with the Austin Police Department – booked into jail for resisting arrest, a charge punishable by up to a year in jail – because she could not hear Officer Steven Willis yelling at her to stop as she walked along a North Austin sidewalk with her girlfriend, Ceci Bermudez. Note: Valdez is the one on the left.

Officer Willis, who doesn’t seem to understand sign language, mistook the intense hand communication as a public disturbance, he says.

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Hey moron, it's sign language!