It has been the practice of the San Antonio Police Department that when officers are involved, they treat the situation differently than if a civilian is involved. In the most recent event, that happens to be the case.
Off-duty San Antonio police Sgt. Gabe Trevino, 42, was on his way home after working a patrol shift, driving a city-owned blue Chevrolet Impala west on the access road. He entered the highway's on-ramp, and his car made contact with the SUV Davila was driving. Notice how quickly the distinction is made, "off-duty."
A police report said Trevino may have failed to yield the right of way to Davila's SUV, which skidded across the two-lane highway and flipped over a 3-foot-tall concrete median. Texas law states motorists entering a freeway must yield the right of way to vehicles on the freeway. Had this been anyone other than an officer, the report would have said, Trevino failed to yield the right of way.
According to police, neither alcohol nor speed is believed to have contributed to the crash. Since officials did not suspect Trevino had been drinking, blood was not drawn, nor was a breathalyzer test conducted. The city does not require alcohol tests when company vehicles are crashed. Had this been anyone other than an officer, all kinds of chemicals test would have been performed.
As concern citizens, questions that have come to our minds are, how long was Trevino working for before the accident? Why no blood nor breathalyzer done on the cop? Why is the SAPD so "hush-hush" about it? The most disturbing thing is, why is the SAPD trying to blame the victim? Reason, "Liability."
The police report said Davila may have failed to take evasive action to avoid the collision: “when a driver takes no evasive action at all,” when she should have; “or, in an effort to avoid the collision, the driver takes improper evasive action, and the action contributes to the crash,” according to the Texas Department of Transportation. This would be the case only if Davila saw Trevino's car coming towards her, not if Trevino was driving so fast that it would have been impossible to see the car. The report does not take this in consideration, and why would it, the report is written by another cop.
This are facts about Trevino's driving record. Trevino received a speeding ticket in his personal vehicle Feb. 13 for traveling 78 mph in a 65-mph zone. Trevino has been involved in at least two previous wrecks, once in 2004 and again in 2007.
The department said "He wasn't found at fault in either incident, nor was anyone injured," SAPD spokesman Sgt. Chris Benavides. Benavides also said it was unclear whether he was on duty when those incidents occurred. SAPD's attempting to minimize liability.
This is an example of cops protecting cops phenomena. We have seen this type of behavior from the police departments in many of our cases. Regrettably, the police department will protect their interest, the cops will continue to work for the departments and the victims and their families are left with unanswered questions.
Many people are not aware of what to do when they have an accident. Fortunately, many of you will never have to do deal with this situation; however, if you do, then you should know what to do. When a person causes an accident or when the person is not responsible for the accident, the actions taken at the scene should be the same.
