Former APD officer, spokesperson retires after being put on leave in corruption probe

Matthew Reisen, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
·4 min read

Apr. 30—A former member of the Albuquerque Police Department's DWI unit who later worked in its Internal Affairs Division informed the APD he was retiring Tuesday amid a continuing administrative investigation into a scheme in which officers allegedly helped get drunken driving cases dismissed in exchange for money and other favors.

Daren DeAguero, who had been with the APD since 2009 and served as one of the department's spokesmen for several years, is the sixth officer to resign or retire since APD Chief Harold Medina launched an internal inquiry on Jan. 23 into misconduct by then current and former DWI unit officers.

That inquiry began just days after the FBI executed search warrants at several officers' homes, at the law office of prominent defense attorney Thomas Clear, and that of his paralegal Ricardo "Rick" Mendez.

No one has been charged and the search warrants remain sealed, but U.S. Attorney Alex Uballez in January reported in a letter to Medina that the ongoing criminal investigation by the FBI focuses on alleged wrongdoing by "certain" APD officers and others.

DeAguero was assigned to the DWI unit from 2014-2018. Since 2018, he served as a public information officer for the APD and worked in Internal Affairs. He didn't return a Journal request for comment.

APD spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said DeAguero was informed Tuesday morning that "he was a target of the investigation and he was put on administrative leave." Investigators scheduled an interview with DeAguero to occur Tuesday afternoon but learned he had submitted his paperwork to retire.

It appears DeAguero did not follow the proper protocols and procedure for retirement, according to city policy.

"APD's Human Resources Department will have to determine how to proceed, based on the manner in which he notified the department of his plans," Gallegos said.

DeAguero's letter of retirement thanked the agency for the "many opportunities I have received during my tenure."

"Due to the current situation of receiving a letter of investigation with very limited time to obtain adequate representation to proceed," he wrote, "I unfortunately will be ending my employment ... ."

DeAguero joined officers Honorio Alba Jr., Joshua Montaño, Nelson Ortiz, Harvey Johnson and Lt. Justin Hunt, who had no longer been assigned to the DWI unit at the time, in resigning or retiring just as they were supposed to be interviewed as part of the IA investigation.

In a statement release Tuesday, Mayor Tim Keller said, "The people of Albuquerque deserve to have trust that the criminal justice system is working to stop drunk driving.

"These allegations of corruption between officers and defense attorneys are a betrayal to the people that police officers are sworn to protect and a betrayal to their fellow officers who put their lives on the line every day for our families," he said. "As we await the FBI's complete investigation, we will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to ensure no stone is left unturned."

APD created an internal affairs task force to conduct all administrative investigations into alleged misconduct by current or past members of the DWI unit. The findings of the inquiry will be submitted to the Superintendent of Police Reform to determine whether APD policies were followed.

Despite the departure of the six officers, Gallegos said the internal inquiry is expected to continue to try to "determine the extent of the involvement of all officers, current and retired, who may have been involved in wrongdoing."

"Chief Medina is still looking at changes to DWI policies and practices," Gallegos told the Journal last week. "Details from the internal investigation and the FBI investigation will be crucial to the direction of future policies."

Montaño, in his March 20 resignation letter, stated that while he was on administrative leave earlier this year, "I thought there would be an opportunity for me to talk to the department about what I knew regarding the FBI's investigation. I thought there would be a time where I could disclose what I knew from within APD and how the issues I let myself get caught up in within the DWI Unit were generational. I thought there would be a time where I could talk about all the other people who should be on administrative leave as well, but aren't."

A Journal review found 13 DWI cases DeAguero filed between 2009 and 2018 in which Clear was listed as the defense attorney. Court records show only one ended in a conviction.

Two were dismissed because another officer who had been involved in the arrest along with DeAguero didn't appear for a pretrial interview. DeAguero didn't show up for witness interviews with Clear or Clear's paralegal, sometimes referred to as an investigator, in at least eight cases. Court records show the remaining cases were dismissed because an unnamed officer did not come to court or the defense raised issues with the evidence.

Because the officers' credibility could be potentially be questioned, 2nd Judicial District Attorney Sam Bregman's office dismissed nearly 200 DWI cases that they had filed and were pending at the time of the FBI searches.