Assistant police chief investigation continues

PHARR -- Assistant Police Chief Javier Perez's leave from work ended Friday, but it's unclear whether he will return to duty next week.

Perez has been under police investigation by his own department for allegedly pocketing at least $50,000 by selling traffic reports to a lawyer and chiropractors, according to a source with knowledge of the case.

He has been on annual leave - another term for vacation - for at least two weeks.

Perez's final day of leave was Friday, but neither he nor police Chief Ruben Villescas knew when Perez would return to work.

Villescas also said he didn't know when the investigation was expected to conclude.

A Pharr police union official said it would be inappropriate for Perez to continue working, given the ongoing investigation, and said Perez should have been suspended.

"For the life of me, I cannot comprehend how this guy is still working. ... They haven't done anything to him," said Pharr police Sgt. Lupe Castillo, president of the Pharr officers' affiliate of the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas.

"It's a bad policy when you have someone continuing to work, knowing there's already a criminal investigation for selling these accident reports," Castillo said.

Villescas said it would have been inappropriate to suspend Perez at this stage, since the investigation is ongoing and questions about the case remain answered.

But former city commissioner Raul Gonzalez said Villescas told the commission earlier this month during an executive session meeting that Perez had already been suspended. Gonzalez lost his re-election bid May 10.

Villescas declined to say whether Gonzalez's assertion was true and said the former official had committed a criminal offense by discussing executive session conversations.

Perez declined to comment on the investigation.

Individual police departments set their own policies regarding whether officers under investigation should be suspended, according to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education.

In some departments, suspension of those under criminal investigation is standard.

Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño said in his department, an officer under criminal investigation is put on paid suspension for three days. If the investigation continues longer than that, the officer is put on unpaid suspension.
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Ryan Holeywell covers PSJA, the Mid-Valley and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4446.