Jewett, Texas
A Jewett patrol officer, Daniel Cheney, is without a job today. He was told the firing was due to budget cuts. However, he wonders if there is a connection between the termination and a complaint he made about Jewett police chief Marty Navarro.
On May 25th Cheney filed a formal complaint with the Texas Rangers Office claiming Chief Navarro was engaging in illegal activities; including harassing officers if ticket quotas were not met each month; as well as selling guns that were confiscated off the streets from criminals.
"An acquaintance of mine actually tried to buy a weapon from him and once I told him it was from the evidence room, he said no and backed out of it,” said Cheney.
The acquaintance has spoken to the press -- on the grounds of anonymity -- out of fear of retaliation.
“He said he confiscated them off of felons, different people, people discharging them in the city limits; other people he had stopped, other people other officers had stopped, so I just took it as, well, he’s the chief of police, so it was okay to buy these guns,” the man said.
Once he learned the transaction could be illegal – the man says he backed out of the deal.
It’s unclear whether or not Cheney is protected by the “Whistleblowers Act." Whistleblowers are employees who report wrongdoing in the workplace to a superior, a law enforcement agency, a governmental agency, or the public and often take such actions at the risk of losing their jobs and careers.
As of now, the Texas Rangers continue to investigate.
