Alton police employees sue former chief in sex case

EDINBURG - Four Alton police department employees who accused former Chief Jose Luis Vela of sexually assaulting them last year have sued him and the city.

The officers allege city officials did not adequately respond to grievances filed with the city manager and that word of their complaints got back to Vela, who then allegedly threatened their careers, their attorney, Michael Pruneda, said on Monday.

"He made threats to blackball them across the Valley if they told anyone," Pruneda said.

Until now, all employees' names had been withheld because of The Monitor's policy not to identify victims of alleged sexual assault. However, the four employees who filed suit Friday attached their names to public court documents as Rolando Cano, Jose Martinez, Enrique Saldaña and Daniel Vargas.

According to their lawsuit, the men originally came forward weeks before Vela's Aug. 30 arrest.

Hidalgo County sheriff's deputies accused Vela of performing oral sex on a male employee after the man passed out drunk at a party held in his home almost two years ago. Vela also allegedly violated another male with an object while that man was passed out at a separate get-together in July, according to court documents.

After his arrest, three more employees came forward saying that Vela fondled them at the police station and in squad cars, Sheriff Lupe Treviño said. But no criminal charges were filed in connection with those cases. Vela was also charged with stealing a seized weapon from his department's evidence locker.

He has maintained his innocence on all charges. No trial date has been set in any of the cases.

Several city officials reached late Monday referred comment to City Attorney Ric Gonzalez's office. However, he did not return several after-hours phone calls.

A listed phone number for Vela, who was fired from his position in September, has been disconnected.

In their lawsuit, the employees requested unspecified monetary damages. State District Judge Juan R. Partida has not yet set a hearing date for the case.

"It's been a very, very traumatic situation for all four of them," Pruneda said. "They did complain to the proper officials but nothing was done about it."

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Jeremy Roebuck covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4437.