Latest news with #Lafave
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Yahoo
‘DWI King' cashing in while his cases crumble
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. Latest from KRQE Investigates Former APD officer tied to DWI scandal now working in Durango 'DWI King' cashing in while his cases crumble Behind The Story: Kids Sleeping In CYFD Offices 8th officer pleads guilty for role in DWI Unit scandal KRQE Investigates: Can CYFD finally end kids sleeping in offices? 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 driver: I can't do You can't do that test? Why not?Teen driver: Wait, H?Lafave: start at H and stop at driver: I can' Why not?Teen driver: I've never had to count backwards by 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. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Yahoo
New Mexico State Police Chief addresses federal probe of DWI Sgt.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – New Mexico's State Police Chief is addressing the public after the so-called 'DWI King' with New Mexico State Police was placed on leave, named in connection to the decades-long corruption scandal. KRQE Investigative Reporter Gabrielle Burkhart sat down with State Police Chief Troy Weisler to ask him how he's handling the investigation of his own department. Related Coverage: New Mexico State Police Chief addresses federal probe of DWI Sgt. DWI Advocate Reacts To Corruption Scheme First New Mexico State Police officer placed on leave in connection to 'DWI Enterprise' scandal 'Punished before a fair trial': Victims of DWI scheme file class action lawsuit Bernalillo County sheriff vows to cooperate; doesn't trust feds' DWI investigation Chief Weisler said the State Police has now launched an internal affairs investigation, looking for any red flags that officers could have been involved in the corruption scandal to get DWI cases dismissed. But so far, only one State Police Sergeant is on their radar. '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,' Chief Weisler told KRQE. 'I was shocked and dismayed.' One of Chief Weisler's top cops when it comes to cracking down on drunk driving is now implicated in a long-running DWI corruption scheme. Sergeant Toby Lafave joined the New Mexico State Police in 2002. Lafave worked in the DWI unit from 2017 to 2022, handling more than 100 DWI arrests per year. 'We don't look for people to tell us thank you, or the recognition that we do get at times, it is nice to get it though,' Lafave told KRQE in a 2019 interview. Over the years, Lafave has been the face of the state's 'END DWI' campaign, named Officer of the Year by Mothers Against Drunk Driving twice, Officer of the Year in 2012, and featured in KRQE newscasts in several high-profile DWI cases. Last week, Lafave was placed on leave and put on notice he is now under investigation. Chief Weisler said it was the FBI who put Lafave on his radar. 'We had a couple of particular cases of Sgt. Lafave that we were looking at more closely,' explained Chief Weisler. 'And then we also received some additional information from the FBI that led to him being put on admin leave last week.' Weisler said his Internal Affairs team is conducting an analysis of officers who had DWI cases overlap with the now-former defense attorney, Thomas Clear III. Clear is the self-proclaimed 'leader' of the DWI corruption scheme going back to at least 1995, and recently pled guilty to RICO conspiracy charges in federal court. Clear admitted to working with officers from the Albuquerque Police Department, Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office, and New Mexico State Police. KRQE News 13 went through court records and found that since 2014, Lafave had at least 27 DWI cases with Clear representing the accused drunk drivers. Forty-one percent of those cases were dismissed. The Bernalillo County District Attorney's Office recently placed Lafave on its 'Giglio' list, meaning Lafave is no longer considered credible in court. As a result of that, the DA's office says it was forced to drop an additional 22 pending DWI cases connected to Lafave. 'First off, I want to apologize for it happening, or for this to even be a suggestion that it happened,' said Chief Weisler. 'Obviously, we'll have to go through the whole process and see what turns out on the other side, but, you know, we will be working day in and day out to regain the trust of the community.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Yahoo
First New Mexico State Police officer placed on leave in connection to ‘DWI Enterprise' scandal
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – New Mexico State Police announced on Friday they have placed Sgt. Toby Lafave on administrative leave as part of the ongoing 'DWI Enterprise' scandal. He is the first NMSP officer to be publicly named in connection to the 'DWI Enterprise' scandal. KRQE's previous coverage of New Mexico State Police Sergeant Toby Lafave's DWI arrests: June 26, 2024: VIDEO: APD officer charged with driving drunk in patrol vehicle Sept. 21, 2020: VIDEO: Accused DWI driver found sleeping in running truck on side of I-25 Dec. 23, 2019: Video shows NMSP officer use SUV to stop accused drunk driver April 24, 2019: Grants police officer arrested for DWI on I-25 in Albuquerque Nov. 20, 2018: State Police officer busts more drunk drivers than any other cop Oct. 4, 2018: Video: Flirty grandma arrested for DWI with grandson in car Oct. 20, 2017: State Police officer moved to tears after DWI stop Sept. 15, 2017: State Police officer makes 100th DWI arrest Throughout his career, Lafave was named Officer of the Month by Mothers Against Drunk Driving twice and has been one of NMSP's most prolific officers in the arrests of drunk drivers. This week, Defense Attorney Thomas Clear III pled guilty to racketeering charges in connection to the scandal. Former APD Officer Neill Elsman also pled guilty this week to conspiracy, extortion, and bribery charges. Last week, former Albuquerque Police Department Officers Honorio Alba Jr. and Joshua Montaño also pled guilty to racketeering charges. Clear's paralegal Rick Mednez was the first to plead guilty in the scandal. Each person who has pled guilty admitted that the Albuquerque Police Department, Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office, and New Mexico State Police were involved in the 'DWI Enterprise.' BCSO placed Jeff Hammerel on leave last month. This is a developing story, KRQE News 13 will provide updates as they become available. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
