‘DWI King' cashing in while his cases crumble

Yahoo

4 days ago

LOS LUNAS, N.M. (KRQE) – He was known as the 'DWI King,' making hundreds of drunk driving arrests for the state's largest police force, before his name was connected to the ongoing federal DWI corruption investigation. KRQE Investigative Reporter Gabrielle Burkhart reveals how this is impacting recent drunk driving cases, and how much the officer is getting paid to stay off the force.
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New Mexico State Police Sergeant Toby Lafave is known for cracking down on drunk driving in New Mexico. 'I love this uniform, I like serving the public,' he told KRQE News 13 during a 2019 interview.
Lafave held a long reputation for holding people accountable. His own dash and lapel police cameras capture his hundreds of arrests over the years.
The so-called 'DWI King' joined the force more than 20 years ago, and was featured on billboards for the state's 'ENDWI' campaign.
'By the time someone is arrested for DWI, it's not usually their first time,' explained Barbara Romo, District Attorney for the 13th Judicial District. 'It's just the first time they get caught, right?'
The idea that Lafave was a straight shooter — one who upheld the law and kept the streets safer — made it all the more shocking when his name got tied to the ongoing federal investigation into the state's biggest DWI corruption scandal.
It's a scheme involving officers working with a now-disgraced defense attorney, accepting cash to get DWI cases dismissed. Thomas Clear III and his paralegal, Ricardo 'Rick' Mendez, have since pleaded guilty in federal court to RICO conspiracy charges.
Lafave's name was placed on the Bernalillo County District Attorney's 'Giglio list' in February, joining more than a dozen other law enforcement officers who are no longer considered credible witnesses in court. It's part of the pending federal investigation into officers participating in the corruption scheme.
'If you're betrayed by a stranger, it's like, well, that's that person – what can you do?' Romo explained. 'But then it starts getting, it hurts a lot more. It stabs you a little bit deeper when it's someone that you should be able to trust with these cases,' she added.
DA Romo is responsible for prosecuting cases in Cibola, Valencia, and Sandoval counties. But without an arresting officer's testimony, a conviction, especially in a DWI case, isn't possible.
'We can't prosecute any of his cases where he's the primary officer,' Romo explained.
'I've been doing this a long time, so you think that you've seen it all, but then something like this happens and you realize that you haven't,' New Mexico State Police Chief Troy Weisler told KRQE in a February interview. Chief Weisler said he got a call from the FBI and immediately placed Lafave on administrative leave on February 13th.
The pending cases Lafave handled were automatically dismissed in court, with no consequences for the accused.
'I've never been to jail, please, sir! Please!' One driver pleaded with Lafave during her DWI arrest in December. The woman admitted to drinking and driving, confessing to her arresting officer, Sgt. Lafave, 'I drink sending my kids to school.'
She's heard on lapel video telling the Sgt., 'I need to contact my father because honestly, he's probably super mad at me.' Lafave replied, 'At least you're alive, you know?'
What could have been a harsh lesson for that young mom is now a lucky break. It's a similar story again and again.
'I'd rather you be late for curfew than me scrape your body off the roadway because someone chose to drive drunk,' Lafave is heard on lapel video telling young passengers during a recent DWI stop. Dozens of Lafave's most recent encounters with apparent drunk drivers – many of them young – now amount to dozens of free passes in court.
In one traffic stop, Sgt. Lafave made in September, he asked the young driver how old she was. 'I'm 19,' she replied. 'I was trying to catch up to you,' Lafave told her. 'You actually reached a speed of 98 miles an hour.'
The teenage driver he stopped from flying on the freeway around 4 a.m. that day is seen on lapel video failing field sobriety tests. Below is a transcript from a portion of her field sobriety test administered by Lafave, as he attempts to have her recite a portion of the alphabet:
Lafave: Starting with the letter H as in Henry, stopping at the letter R as in Robert.Teen driver: I can't do that.Lafave: You can't do that test? Why not?Teen driver: Wait, H?Lafave: start at H and stop at R.Teen driver: I can't.Lafave: Why not?Teen driver: I've never had to count backwards by H.Lafave: Okay. One, you're not counting. You are reciting the alphabet forward.
Lafave arrested the 19-year-old for DWI. While handcuffed in the backseat, the teenage driver gives Lafave attitude.
'It's gonna automatically get duh-missed,' she shouted from the backseat. 'Duh-missed?' He replied.
'I ain't gonna get charged with s***!' She told Lafave, while calling him names during the remainder of her arrest. As fate would have it, she was right. Her case was dismissed this year, but not because she proved to anyone that she wasn't driving drunk that night.
It's a glimpse of the nearly 40 pending DWI cases prosecutors were forced to drop due to Lafave losing credibility. Hers is among the seven case dismissals that reach beyond the metro.
'Yeah, it doesn't send a good message,' explained DA Romo. 'But by the same token, I can honestly say that the vast, vast majority of law enforcement officers I've worked with across the state, they're out there doing their job, and I guarantee you they hate this more than anybody,' she added.
Lafave is still on administrative leave pending the federal and now internal investigation by New Mexico State Police. KRQE Investigates confirmed through public records that Sergeant Lafave is still making a full $54-an-hour paycheck while on leave. That amounts to Lafave getting paid more than $39,000 and counting to stay off the streets.
And while the public has seen at least seven officers criminally charged in the scheme, the feds so far have not charged Lafave. His long-standing crusade against drunk drivers is now clouded with questions about his own conduct.
In Bernalillo County, the District Attorney's Office was forced to dismiss nearly 300 DWI cases as a result of officers losing credibility in court. New Mexico State Police tells KRQE their internal investigation into Lafave is still ongoing.
While DA Romo was forced to dismiss pending cases involving Lafave, she said she will not be going back through adjudicated cases handled by compromised officers. That is, unless a defense attorney files a motion to do so.
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