A few weeks ago, I posted about Houston cops who had covered up a drunk driving investigation involving one of their own. See The Unwritten Code. The suspect — a sergeant who had crashed into a school bus on his way to work — had a blood-alcohol level of .20%. Cops at the scene, however, assured witnesses that the sergeant was not drunk; they also threatened to arrest some who were trying to take photographs of open containers in his car.
Due to increasing media pressure, the cop was charged with DWI and an internal review was eventually conducted into the "investigation" of the accident. The results?
Cop Disciplined After Alleged DWI Gets New Post
Houston, TX. Sept. 28 — There are surprising new responsibilities for a Houston police officer accused of turning a blind eye in the investigation of a fellow officer’s alleged DWI crash.
Seven officers were reprimanded for their roles in allegedly covering up the extent of a fellow officer’s DWI accident. HPD says Sgt. Ruben Trejo was drunk when he hit a school bus in April, with a blood alcohol content more than twice the legal limit. Trejo was eventually charged and then fired from the police force, but the officers accused of helping him nearly get away with it remain on the beat. Now Eyewitness News uncovered a surprising new detail.
Tonight we’ve learned the highest ranking officer among the disciplined cops is getting a new job. It’s not part of his discipline. In fact he’ll have some increased and somewhat surprising new responsibilities.
In the minutes after allegedly drunk HPD Sergeant Ruben Trejo crashed his pickup into a school bus his fellow officers denied alcohol was involved. It was, according to HPD, who says Trejo was more than twice the legal limit. One officer literally covered up bottles on Trejo’s floorboards and seven officers were disciplined for the botched investigation. This week, we learned some of the details why…
Assistant Chief Daniel Perales was the highest ranking in the group.
HPD Chief McClelland told Perales, "You failed to ensure that a comprehensive and timely investigation was conducted into the allegations that alcohol may have been a factor in Sgt. Trejo’s accident."
Just two weeks after being disciplined for not properly investigating that DWI accident, we’ve learned Chief Perales is getting a new job. He’ll now be in charge of traffic enforcement for HPD and the DWI task force…
Let me see if I understand this correctly….A drunken cop crashes into a school bus on his way to work…an assistant police chief is found to be the senior officer in an attempted cover up…and he is then put in charge of the Department’s DWI Task Force.
Welcome to the "War on Drunk Driving".
(Thanks to Joe Cadillic.)
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