APD investigating DWI sergeant’s actions

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) - Another police officer arrested for drunk driving was allowed to go home instead of jail.

News 13 has learned the Albuquerque Police Department DWI sergeant who let it happen has now been reassigned.

According to the police report, Sgt. Josh McDonald let an off-duty town of Bernalillo cop get a ride home in order to protect him.

That's in direct violation of APD policy, which mandates everyone who is arrested for DWI be booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center unless they have a medical condition.

The Bernalillo police officer was arrested early Saturday morning at an APD DWI roadblock on northbound State Road 528 near Westside Boulevard.

In the police report the officer said Jose ‘Berto’ Chavez admitted that he had three beers, quit a field sobriety test and then refused a Breathalyzer test.

However Chavez did not go to jail.  His wife picked him up instead.

The police report goes on to say McDonald called Chavez’s supervisor and found out Chavez regularly books prisoners into MDC.  So the sergeant determined it was “unsafe” for Chavez to be booked and processed into MDC.

“Whoever you are, if you’re arrested and we know that you can be threatened, we will protect you,” said MDC Chief Ramon Rustin.

MDC officials said they have policies in place to ensure any high-risk arrestee, including law enforcement officers, are safe.

“If we believe somebody will be threatened when they’re arrested, we will isolate that individual, put them in a single cell,” Rustin said.

This is not the first time something like this has happened.

Last year APD Sgt. Richard Guzman was allowed to skip the booking process after being arrested for DWI.

The arresting Bernalillo County sheriff’s deputy was also worried about Guzman’s safety in jail.

That incident prompted the county to change its policy from letting deputies use discretion to hard and fast rules.

“If you get stopped in our county and are arrested for DUI you will be booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center unless you have a medical condition,” then-Sheriff Manny Gonzales said last year after the arrest. “What brought this is on is the public outcry and the misperception of cronyism in law enforcement.".

APD brass refused to comment any further so it’s not clear where McDonald has been transferred. 

Chavez was issued a criminal summons for aggravated DWI.  He is on paid leave until the case is resolved.