June 08--A Santa Fe woman has filed a lawsuit against a State Police officer that accuses him of sexually assaulting her after a traffic stop in August 2010. Jucilia Conceicao Santos, identified in the suit as a native of Brazil and legal U.S. resident for 17 years, also maintains that she was harassed by officer Carlos Salazar after the alleged assault through phone calls to her and her daughter. The suit alleges Salazar encouraged her to not to tell to her attorney he'd been calling her and told her he thought she and he had "hit it off" the night of her arrest and the alleged assault.
Richard Sandoval, Santos' attorney, said Thursday that to his knowledge, Salazar has not been disciplined or brought up on criminal charges in the case.
"In this case, there were multiple things he did wrong," Sandoval said.
Sandoval's complaint, filed Monday in state District Court, states that a criminal investigation of Salazar was initiated after Santos complained to the State Police.
Salazar could not be reached for comment Thursday. State Police Lt. Robert McDonald said he could not comment until he read the complaint against Salazar.
T he su it, wh ich seeks unspecified damages, states that Salazar was dispatched at 10:49 p.m. Aug. 15, 2010, to the Route 66 Casino west of Albuquerque because a Laguna Pueblo police officer had detained Santos for a traffic violation. Salazar conducted tests leading him to believe Santos, 38 years old at the time, was intoxicated.
Salazar put Santos and her passenger, Reina Roybal, in his cruiser and made com- ments about how he thought Santos was beautiful, the suit maintains.
Salazar drove to the State Police office in Albuquerque and while Roybal was outside smoking, Salazar took Santos to the women's bathroom.
There, Salazar sexually assaulted Santos by exposing himself, touching her, having her touch him and asking her for sexual favors, according to the lawsuit.
Santos was "booked," the suit says, but Salazar drove Roybal to "various hotels around Albuquerque and helped her secure a room with his police discount."
After the arrest, the complaint states, Salazar called Santos repeatedly, offered to help her with the criminal charges and said he wanted to get together with her. During this time Salazar also contacted Santos' 15-year-old daughter, the suit maintains.
The charges against Santos were dismissed, according to the lawsuit.
Along with Salazar, the suit names as defendants unspecified employees of the State Police who were responsible for hiring, training and supervising Salazar.
Copyright 2012 - Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
