Ex-cop takes plea in arrest escapade

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A former Albuquerque police officer accused of helping a prominent friend escape a DWI arrest pleaded to a reduced charge Monday.

Ben Kirby's was to go on trial Monday for assisting an escape. Instead Kirby he and his attorney in a deal with prosecutors entered a no-contest plea to interfering with a public official.

The judge sentenced Kirby to six months of unsupervised probation.

Three years ago then-officer Kirby helped developer Jason Daskalos sneak out of the mobile DWI booking unit after he had been arrested on a DWI charge.

The Albuquerque Police Department later fired Kirby, and the following investigation into the dismissal of numerous traffic charges filed against Daskalos led to the resignation of an attorney in the city attorney's office.

Daskalos later acquitted of the DWI charge.