Lewdness case could prompt suspension of Alton police chief's private security license

MISSION — Alton’s suspended police chief would lose the ability to work at his private security company if the Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office prosecutes the public lewdness case against him, officials said Wednesday.

Baldemar Flores turned himself in at the Mission Police Department on Monday after learning the night before that he was wanted on one count of public lewdness.

Flores could face up to a year in jail and a possible fine of up to $4,000 if convicted on the Class A misdemeanor charge.

The chief also will lose the ability to work at his private security firm, Rapid Security Inc., if District Attorney Rene Guerra opts to prosecute the case, regardless of whether Flores is ultimately convicted.

Guerra has said he will likely move forward with the case after his office receives it from Mission police.

“I am pretty sure it will be accepted,” the prosecutor said Wednesday evening.

If or when that happens, the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Private Security Bureau — the state agency that oversees private security firms — would suspend Flores’ private security license, DPS spokeswoman Lisa Block said.

Under Texas law, the bureau has the authority to suspend or deny applications for licenses if a person has been charged with at least a Class B misdemeanor — even if the person has not been convicted of the offense.

Block said the bureau would also launch an investigation into Flores’ firm, which is co-owned and operated by his wife, Yolanda.

The chief’s wife could continue to operate the 120-employee firm for up to 60 days after his private security license was suspended, after which state investigators would conclude whether the company could remain open.

Block said bureau investigators will monitor whether Guerra’s office chooses to prosecute Flores’ case.

The chief’s public lewdness charge came after Mission police received a complaint from a manager at AutoZone, 2204 N. Conway Ave., in July. The manager told police he had seen an Alton police cruiser and a black BMW frequenting the area behind the store on a weekly basis since January 2008.

The manager also told police he saw a woman and a man, later identified as Flores, having sex inside an Alton police vehicle.

Late Friday afternoon, the manager called Mission Assistant Police Chief Martin Garza, who responded to the store with Police Chief Leo Longoria.

Garza said he saw Flores drive away from the area in a black Ford Expedition with Texas exempt license plates, the criminal complaint in the case states.

Longoria pulled over the black BMW, driven by Mission resident Cynthia Garza Garcia, 22, who gave police a written statement that she was having a relationship with Flores since 2006 and that they had been meeting behind the AutoZone and other locations “for intimacy,” according to the complaint.

Garcia was arraigned Tuesday in Mission Municipal Court on a charge of public lewdness. She was given a $5,000 personal recognizance bond and has since been released. Attempts to contact her via her MySpace account and identify a phone number for her were unsuccessful.

Flores could not be reached at his business or on his mobile phone late Wednesday afternoon, but he denied the allegations against him in a Tuesday interview. He said he would challenge Mission Mayor Norberto “Beto” Salinas in the upcoming May election.

Flores’ attorney Richard Alamia said Tuesday that his client’s arrest was “influenced by the political process.”

“We feel confident that the case will be dismissed, or if we try it before a jury we will prevail and my client will be found not guilty,” Alamia said.

____

Jared Taylor covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4439.