"YES" TO DEPARTMENTAL DISCIPLINE, "NO" TO DOUBLE STANDARD, SHERIFF LUCIO!

Carlos Garza

Three stories have now run in Juan Montoya's El Rrun Rrun blog about the termination of former Captain Carlos Garza, reportedly "sent home without his badge or service weapon."  Nothing about this has yet appeared in the Brownsville Herald.

The reports mentioned no specific charges against Garza, just hints and innuendo;  conflicts of interest involving landscaping and towing services, a female relative who "falsified timesheets," then, as the "noose tightened," search warrants on Garza's home and "3 romantic contacts" discovered on his department-issued cell phone.

Gus Reyna

We don't know Carlos Garza, have no idea what led to his termination by Sheriff Lucio, but, we do recognize that Lucio has a history of legally going after individuals who deign to run for sheriff, while mollycoddling people in his inner circle like Gus Reyna, who've broken laws without punishment.

Here is an excerpt from an earlier article on Gus Reyna's abuses:

"Now, Chief Deputy Gus Reyna, has further disgraced the Cameron County Sheriff's Department by not reporting a two car automobile accident, involving substantial vehicular damage, allegedly occurring August 24 just off Pablo Kisel Blvd. in or near a restaurant parking lot.(We received an unconfirmed tip that Chief Deputy Reyna frequently enjoys libations at Chili's and Johnny Carino's Italian Restaurant.)

Reyna, accompanied by a close male friend, once employed by the sheriff's department, was driving a county vehicle, a 2011 Ford Expedition, when he reportedly collided with a vehicle driven by a 36 year old woman, also once employed by the sheriff's department. 

Neither operator reported the accident, as required by law in accidents with physical damage exceeding $500. Juan Montoya of El Rrun Rrunblog reported the damage to both vehicles exceeded $7,000. As a sheriff's department employee, Reyna is required to submit to a drug and alcohol screening within two hours of the accident as required."

Why on earth would Sheriff Lucio essentially ignore, sweep under the rug, two allegedly drunken wrecks, where his chief deputy failed as required by law to call law enforcement, or even file accident reports or submit to drug and alcohol screening?

If Carlos Garza is guilty of improprieties, he should dealt with, justly, as a lawbreaker, not because he was considering a run for sheriff.