Post by KC on Jun 17, 2006 22:06:18 GMT -5
Trooper Jose Luis Acosta
June 17, 2006 - A state trooper has resigned from the Department of Public Safety after being accused of tampering with evidence for a DWI suspect to whom he was physically attracted.
The trooper, 31-year-old officer Jose Luis Acosta, quit his job Thursday, shortly before he was arrested by DPS. He had been employed by the agency for more than three years, working out of its Madisonville and Bryan offices, and was DPS Officer of the Year for Brazos County in 2004.
Acosta is charged with two counts of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, a third-degree felony, and two counts of tampering with or fabricating government documents, a state jail felony.
According to Texas Ranger Frank Malinak, a woman whom Acosta arrested June 10 for driving while intoxicated, Destinee Lynn Clubb, called Malinak on Tuesday to report what she believed to be improper behavior by the trooper.
Clubb, 20, said that Acosta told her a DWI charge would be "costly" and that he would do her a "big favor" and charge her with driving under the influence as a minor, Malinak wrote in an affidavit supporting Acosta's arrest.
Acosta gave her a breath test, Clubb said, and told her the reading was .10, past the legal limit for intoxication. She said he then showed her how to prevent a "true reading" by limiting her breaths, according to Malinak's affidavit.
The trooper told Clubb that he was going to keep her driver's license and then arranged to meet her on Wednesday so she could get it back. Clubb gave the trooper her phone number so he could call her with specific instructions on when and where to meet, Malinak said.
Acosta called Clubb on Wednesday, and she asked that they meet at a business in College Station. Officers set up audio recording and transmitting devices in Clubb's vehicle to record her conversations with Acosta.
When Acosta arrived, he was dressed in civilian clothes and was apparently off-duty, the affidavit states. He got into the vehicle with Clubb and gave her several original documents, including handwritten notes associated with her arrest.
The documents included a property inventory of Clubb's vehicle, a notice of suspension and temporary driving permit issued to Clubb, a statutory warning issued to her, a document titled "DWI Interview with Legal Warnings" with handwritten notes and Acosta's signature, three Intoxilyzer reports and a report detailing Clubb's arrest.
Acosta told Clubb that he was physically attracted to her and "spoke of her eyes as well as how she was dressed," Malinak wrote in the affidavit. Acosta also said that he would like to meet her Thursday, and that he would dismiss charges against her then, Malinak said.
Tom Vinger, a DPS spokesman in Austin, said the agency had received no prior complaints about Acosta's behavior.
Acosta was one of nine troopers working out of the DPS office in Bryan. His honor as Officer of the Year in 2004 noted that he had led other troopers in arrests for driving while intoxicated, in enforcing the seat-belt law and in assisting motorists.
According to Brazos County Jail records, Clubb was arrested June 10 and charged with driving under the influence as a minor, a Class C misdemeanor. Driving while intoxicated is a Class B misdemeanor.
Clubb was released the same day from the Brazos County Jail on $1,000 bail.
Acosta was released from the jail Friday on $60,000 bail.
