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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.)
 

DUI BLOG

So what happens when cops are called to an accident with a school bus caused by an obviously (.20%)  drunk driver…and discover he’s a cop?  

Houston Police Threaten to Arrest Photographers to Protect Their Own


Houston, TX. Aug. 11 — With a blood-alcohol content of more than twice the legal limit and several open containers of booze in his truck, Houston Police Sergeant Ruben Trejo was on his way to work when he crashed into a school bus last April.

While it became immediately obvious he was drunk, his fellow officers responding to the accident did their best to cover up for him, including threatening to arrest witnesses who tried photographing the open containers in his truck.

Not only did police cite the bus driver for running a stop sign – when witnesses told them it was Trejo who ran the stop sign – they went on record with the media assuring he was not drunk.

But two weeks later, Trejo was charged with DWI. And only because local reporters kept pestering police about it.

According to the original news report from KHOU:

An HPD spokesman said the bus driver ran a stop sign and caused the accident. But other witnesses said the officer was the one who ran a stop sign.

The bus driver said she thinks he’d been drinking.

"He smelled drunk and he had beer and wine opened in his car," Teresa Argueta said.

Other witnesses said officers at the scene threw a towel over the open containers and threatened to arrest anyone who took photos.

Here is what the Houston Chronicle wrote two weeks later.

A veteran Houston police officer with a blood-alcohol content of .205 — more than twice the legal limit — was driving to work when he collided with a private school bus this month, authorities said.

Ruben Trejo, 46, was charged Monday with driving while intoxicated in connection with an April 13 wreck that sent him to the hospital. The legal limit for intoxication is 0.08.

Trejo collided with a school bus in the 7900 block of Harrisburg while off-duty in his personal vehicle, a Toyota Tundra pickup, about 2:15 p.m., HPD spokesman John Cannon said.

A sergeant on the Eastside patrol division, Trejo was en route to work when he wrecked, Cannon said. There were no children aboard the bus.

And as reporters kept digging, they learned he has a long history of traffic collisions, with ABC Local uncovering the following:

According to HPD’s disciplinary records, Trejo has been named at fault in four accidents in 1990, 1992, 1999 and 2000. He was also cited for insubordination and conduct and behavior problems in 2008.

For other examples of the "unwritten code" among police officers in DUI cases, see some of my past posts:  The DUI Double Standard, The Blue Cover-Up and Guarding the Guardians.  

(Thanks to Andre Campos.)

 

DUI BLOG