Post by Critique on Jan 13, 2007 2:54:51 GMT -5
January 11, 2007
By Michael Gisick
An undercover State Police narcotics agent has been transferred to administrative duties after Albuquerque police arrested him on an aggravated DWI charge.
Agent John Lytle, 33, of Belen was arrested at 9 p.m. Wednesday in the 800 block of Fruit Avenue Northwest, police say.
According to a Metro Court criminal complaint, an officer noticed Lytle and another man urinating outside their vehicle, which was running. The officer noted that Lytle smelled of alcohol and had bloodshot eyes.
"I ask if he had been drinking. He said he was allowed to drink at work," the officer said, according to the complaint.
The officer asked Lytle to perform field sobriety tests. He did poorly on the tests and was arrested, the complaint stated.
Lytle was taken to a substation and asked to submit a breath test, which he refused to do, the complaint states. Refusal to submit to the test is grounds for the aggravated DWI charge.
Lytle is an undercover narcotics officer and had made several narcotics transactions the night he was arrested, State Police spokesman Juan Jose Martinez said.
Martinez said State Police policy does allow officers to consume alcohol when working undercover.
"They make these transactions; they have to entertain these criminals," Martinez said. "But it's obviously not appropriate to drink and drive."
Martinez said Lytle had been placed on administrative duties while State Police conduct an investigation. He said Lytle had been with the State Police for five years.
"The arrest of Agent Lytle is very disappointing and will be dealt with very swiftly," State Police Chief Faron Segotta said in a prepared statement.
"I would like to reassure the citizens of New Mexico that incidents such as this illustrate the DWI problem in New Mexico and that no one is immune from it."
Segotta emphasized the State Police are committed to fighting DWI, and its officers made more than 3,400 DWI arrests in 2006 and intend to increase the number of arrests in 2007.
www.abqtrib.com/news/2007/jan/11/state-police-drug-agent-charged-dwi/
By Michael Gisick
An undercover State Police narcotics agent has been transferred to administrative duties after Albuquerque police arrested him on an aggravated DWI charge.
Agent John Lytle, 33, of Belen was arrested at 9 p.m. Wednesday in the 800 block of Fruit Avenue Northwest, police say.
According to a Metro Court criminal complaint, an officer noticed Lytle and another man urinating outside their vehicle, which was running. The officer noted that Lytle smelled of alcohol and had bloodshot eyes.
"I ask if he had been drinking. He said he was allowed to drink at work," the officer said, according to the complaint.
The officer asked Lytle to perform field sobriety tests. He did poorly on the tests and was arrested, the complaint stated.
Lytle was taken to a substation and asked to submit a breath test, which he refused to do, the complaint states. Refusal to submit to the test is grounds for the aggravated DWI charge.
Lytle is an undercover narcotics officer and had made several narcotics transactions the night he was arrested, State Police spokesman Juan Jose Martinez said.
Martinez said State Police policy does allow officers to consume alcohol when working undercover.
"They make these transactions; they have to entertain these criminals," Martinez said. "But it's obviously not appropriate to drink and drive."
Martinez said Lytle had been placed on administrative duties while State Police conduct an investigation. He said Lytle had been with the State Police for five years.
"The arrest of Agent Lytle is very disappointing and will be dealt with very swiftly," State Police Chief Faron Segotta said in a prepared statement.
"I would like to reassure the citizens of New Mexico that incidents such as this illustrate the DWI problem in New Mexico and that no one is immune from it."
Segotta emphasized the State Police are committed to fighting DWI, and its officers made more than 3,400 DWI arrests in 2006 and intend to increase the number of arrests in 2007.
www.abqtrib.com/news/2007/jan/11/state-police-drug-agent-charged-dwi/