MISSION – A Mission cop who was arrested on suspicion of
drunken driving Sunday has been fired.
Mission police administrators indefinitely suspended Officer
Randy Garza, 28, Tuesday after investigating the matter, police Chief Martin
Garza said. An indefinite suspension is akin to a termination under civil
service rules.
Mission police arrested Randy Garza about 7:15 a.m. Sunday
after he hit a mailbox with his vehicle. A witness called police to the scene
and cops did not actually see Randy Garza driving the vehicle.
Officers noticed signs of intoxication, but Randy Garza
refused to do a field sobriety or Breathalyzer test, the police chief said.
About 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Randy Garza went in front of
Municipal Judge Horacio Peña, who arraigned him on the driving while
intoxicated charge but decided to wait to send him to the Hidalgo County Jail
until the next day, when all of the witness statements were available, Peña
said.
On Sunday, the judge was still waiting on a witness
statement from someone who had actually seen Randy Garza driving the car, Peña
said. Police had talked to a passer-by who said he saw Peña driving his car,
but officers had not completed his official statement before the arraignment.
“The homeowner at the time the incident had occurred noticed
the damage and spoke to the cop, but could not provide evidence that he was
behind the wheel of the car,” Peña said.
So Randy Garza was released Sunday on a $1,000 personal
recognizance bond and had to promise to appear the next day to be taken to the
Hidalgo County Jail.
Mission police suspended Randy Garza with pay immediately
after the incident, Martin Garza said. The suspension was done to give them
more time to sort through the evidence and city policies to decide on final
punishment. Randy Garza started working for the Mission Police Department in
June 2010.
“Of course,” Chief Garza said, with “the fact that he’s
being charged with a criminal offense, the decision was clearly to do an
indefinite suspension.”