Deputy arrested for bounced check
EDINBURG — An Hidalgo County sheriff’s deputy was fired Thursday after writing a hot check for a $7,500 piece of construction equipment.
Deputy Mark McAvoy, 47, of Edinburg, confessed to purchasing a front-end loader even though he knew he lacked sufficient funds in his bank account to cover the cost, Sheriff Lupe Treviño said.
He is the ninth deputy to be fired under a cloud of criminal accusations since the sheriff took office in January 2005.
“He was there just to defraud the owner,” Treviño said.
According to the probable cause affidavit in the case, McAvoy gave an attendant at Ralph’s Farm & Equipment Service a check in exchange for the loader on June 28, knowing he lacked sufficient funds in his bank account to cover the cost.
After the check bounced, the store attempted to contact McAvoy, but the deputy did not return any phone calls to his residence.
Investigators found the loader at McAvoy’s Edinburg home, where he confessed to writing the check and knowing he didn’t have the money.
The decision to fire the deputy came easily once he admitted to the crime, Treviño said. Before his termination, McAvoy had worked for almost four years as a patrol deputy.
“I’m weeding out the bad elements,” Treviño said. “I cannot keep a deputy on board who knowingly commits a theft. I cannot trust him with a badge or a gun.”
At an arraignment Thursday, Justice of the Peace Rosa Treviño, who is not related to the sheriff, charged McAvoy with theft. He remained in the Hidalgo County jail as of late Thursday night on a $50,000 bond.
If convicted, he could face up to two years in a state jail and a fine of up to $10,000.
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Jeremy Roebuck covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4437.
