Sheriff-elect Salazar pledges to fix problems causing delays in traffic fatality investigations

Defenders identify 5 cases involving alcohol that haven't been filed with DA

SAN ANTONIO – Bexar County Sheriff-elect Javier Salazar is pledging to fix problems within the agency that have led to long delays with some traffic fatality cases involving alleged drunken drivers.

The KSAT 12 Defenders have been reporting on the delayed cases for several months that have left some families waiting more than two years for suspects to be arrested or charged.

Justice has been elusive for Peter Castillo's family. Castillo, 58, was killed in a crash on Nov. 24, 2014, on Highway 181 at Foster Road.

Castillo's case was just one of several the Defenders have identified as having been delayed.

Shortly after the Defenders began asking questions about the status of Castillo's case, Bexar County Sheriff's Office investigators filed the case with the Bexar County district attorney. It was filed one day before the second anniversary of Castillo's death.

The driver who is believed to have caused the accident looked unsteady on her feet while performing a roadside sobriety test following the crash. She has never been arrested or charged.

The investigator who wrote the report said the driver's use of alcohol may have been a contributing factor in the crash and recommended she be charged with intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault.

Witnesses were quoted in the report stating that the driver said she had been drinking but told them "she was not drunk."

"It's not fair that she keeps going on with her life, moving on, day in and day out and celebrating everything while we're here struggling. We don't get to see my husband," Castillo's widow, Edna, said in a recent interview.

Guadalupe "Lupe" Griego, 64, was killed in a crash on April 9, 2014. He was the passenger in a car driven by his co-worker, Jaime Rodriguez, 30.

The official report stated "several alcoholic beverages were located throughout the crash scene," and the investigator listed Rodriguez's use of alcohol as a contributing factor and recommended a charge of intoxication assault before Griego died.

It took BCSO investigators two years and two months to even send the case to the District Attorney's Office for prosecution. That finally happened in June of this year.

Just this week, a grand jury indicted Rodriguez, charging him with intoxication manslaughter. There is a warrant out for his arrest.

According to records provided by BCSO, the agency has investigated a total of 72 traffic fatalities from January 2014 through mid-November 2016. Of those cases, only four had been filed with the D.A.'s Office for prosecution. Three of the cases were from 2014, while one was from 2015. All of those cases were filed in the past six months.

Out of the 72 cases reviewed by the Defenders, there were five fatality cases where alcohol was cited as a contributing factor by investigators, but there have been no arrests or charges filed in those cases — even in crashes where the report showed the driver's blood alcohol content was over the legal limit.

Shaun Gee, 32, was a passenger in a car when he was killed in a crash on May 31, 2015.

The driver of the car Gee was in lost control and caused another car to crash into a fence at Lackland Air Force Base before their car rolled several times.

In the report, the investigator concluded both drivers had been drinking and were under the influence. The driver's blood alcohol content was listed as 0.11, which is over the legal limit of 0.08. The investigator recommended both drivers be charged with intoxication manslaughter. Neither driver has been arrested or charged for the fatal crash.

Salazar is promising to get the cases to the D.A. in a more timely manner when he takes over next month. He wants to put better tracking systems in place, similar to what is used by the San Antonio Police Department, to make sure cases aren't sitting dormant.

"Justice delayed is justice denied in my book, and that is not going to be happening under my watch," Salazar said. "We need to be sending a strong message that's consistent with everyone else in the system that this sort of behavior won't be tolerated."

Salazar said he'll also hold his investigators and their supervisors more accountable.

"I'd like to find out is it an issue with training? Is it an issue with someone who's just not doing his job as efficiently as it needs to be? Is there not enough people watching?" Salazar said. "Whatever the situation is, I'm pledging that I will fix it, and I will work with the D.A. to make sure that our cases are the best quality that we can provide them for prosecution purposes."