Woman claims deputy made her strip

ALBUQUERQUE, NM {KRQE} - He's accused of making a woman get naked for him during a traffic stop. Now he's facing two felonies, and his boss, the Valencia County Sheriff, didn't even know about the charges until we told him.

The deputy was off-duty in his patrol car when that woman claims he terrorized her, and this is just the deputy's latest brush with the law.

What happened on a dusty stretch of highway 304 near Veguita could cost Deputy Patrick Duran his job and freedom.

“Anytime we have allegations made such as these against an employee there is concern,” Valencia County Sheriff Louis Burkhard said.

The sheriff didn't know Duran had been charged for the September accustation until News 13 called him.

“He (Duran) has been on administrative leave since before I took office,” Burkhard said.

Here's why Duran is suspended: A woman and her boyfriend said Duran approached their parked car on highway 304 and told her to get out. After taking the woman to the back of his cruiser, she claimed Duran told her he could arrest her for DWI, and then told her to pull down her pants and underwear, and bend over.

She said she followed his orders because she was afraid he'd take her to jail. She said her boyfriend saved her when he jumped out of the car and said he was calling the cops.

To add insult to injury, the woman claims Duran gave her a hug before driving off.

Now Duran is charged with extortion and false imprisonment. But, he's still collecting a paycheck.

“We will complete our internal affairs investigation and at that time make a determination on how to proceed,” Burkhard said.

This isn't the first time Duran has been in trouble. He used to be a state cop but was fired when he was arrested for DWI. In fact he's been arrested five times for driving drunk.

The sheriff said Duran was hired before he took office, and didn’t know about the DWI charges, but said the DWI charges concern him, and it's not the image he wants to send out.

“We have a lot of work to do on regaining the trust and confidence of the public,” Burkhard said.

All of Duran's DWIs have been dismissed by prosecutors. He wasn't charged with a sex crime for the September incident because investigators said Duran didn't actually touch the woman while she was naked.

The sheriff said the internal affairs investigation into Duran's actions will be finished soon and he could be fired.