The arrest of a Socorro police officer on Monday for allegedly tampering with government records is the latest development in a series of arrests and investigations against the city of Socorro and its police department.
At about 8 a.m., Socorro Officer Bobby Correa turned himself in to El Paso County sheriff's detectives with the white collar crimes unit. Correa, 28, faces two counts of tampering with a government record.
Correa was taken into custody without incident and booked into jail. He was released from jail at about 1 p.m. after posting a $30,000 bond, El Paso County Jail records show.
"Due to the fact that this is an ongoing investigation, no further information will be released at this time," the Sheriff's
Office said in a news release.
Correa is the fifth Socorro police officer arrested during the last two weeks by other law enforcement agencies.
Four Socorro police officers and a police dispatcher were arrested by Texas Rangers and state troopers on Oct. 30.
Lt. Jose Alvarez, Sgt. Refugio Orta, Detective Javier Varela and Officer Israel Delgado are accused of official oppression. In addition, Varela and Delgado face charges of aggravated perjury and tampering with governmental records.
The charges are tied to the arrest of Victor Grijalva on May 23, allegedly without probable cause, outside a 7-Eleven.
Dispatcher Raul Huerta is accused of delivering more than five pounds of marijuana.
The five men
have been relieved of duty with pay pending an internal investigation. Alvarez -- who was in charge of the department at the time of his arrest -- Orta and Varela cannot access law enforcement materials or approach the police buildings.
Officer James Purdue has been appointed as commanding officer.
The arrest of Correa comes a day after Socorro City Rep. Jesse Gandara released a YouTube video in which he calls El Paso County Sheriff Richard Wiles a liar and corrupt.
In the video "Corrupt Sheriff Richard Wiles in biased investigations into city of Socorro," Gandara shows the photos taken during an incident between Gandara and Sheriff's Office detectives on March 29, 2011.
At the time, detectives were conducting an investigation into more than 200 driveways being built in Gandara's district as part of a city project paid for with more than $300,000 in certificates of obligation.
Gandara then accused a sheriff's detective of grabbing his hands and hurting him while he was trying to videotape the detectives outside his home on Vineyard Road.
For his YouTube video, Gandara also used an interview of Wiles with Channel 14-KFOX and a police video that became part of an investigation in connection with a tampering-with-evidence case against Orta. The case was presented to the District Attorney's Office.
"I fully expect for the Sheriff Wiles and his deputies to retaliate against me for this video," Gandara wrote on the video. "Corruption flourishes under the cloak of El Paso County Sheriffs law enforcement."
Wiles responded to Gandara's video on Monday by saying that the "El Paso County Sheriff's Office will not engage in a debate with the subject of a criminal investigation."
Wiles said he stands by his comments made last Friday, after the Socorro City Council voted to sue Wiles and three sheriff's investigators for allegedly harassing, conducting unlawful searches and violating the civil rights of Socorro officials, police and other employees.
At the time Wiles said all the investigations and arrests made by the Sheriff's Office are executed in accordance with the law. Wiles said his department is committed to investigating and taking appropriate action related to allegations of criminal nature.
"We take our responsibilities seriously and will continue to move forward without regard to baseless threats of frivolous civil action constituting a further waste of taxpayer money," Wiles said.
Socorro elected officials said they feel the Sheriff's Office is trying to "harass and intimidate" them.
"We're a city of our own. What's their interest in keeping us from doing our work?" asked city Rep. Willie Madrid. "We've got to get to the bottom of this. Why in the world are they telling us whose driveway to put in first? We're all getting them. And I think it's a good example of how these are our issues. It brings the facts into light, look at the (YouTube) video; it explains a lot of things."
In the last four months, sheriff's investigators have executed search warrants and grand jury subpoenas and have arrested two city employees on theft charges.
Copyright 2012 - El Paso Times, Texas
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
