An El Paso Police Department Internal Affairs investigation that was assisted by a rarely used civilian disciplinary review board has determined that KVIA-News 7 reporter Darren Hunt and a photographer were largely at fault for the April 20 incident that led resulted in their brief arrest.

The outcome of the investigation is described in a report released by the Police Department on Tuesday afternoon.

El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen chose to appoint an informal civilian review board to handle the controversial case rather than his own Internal Affairs Division -- a process that is not unprecedented, apparently, but hasn't been used in over a decade.

The six-member panel, which included news directors for two competing TV stations, determined that the arrest of Hunt and cameraman Ric Dupont was not unjustified, that Officer Raul Ramirez, a police sergeant at the time, did not use excessive force against Hunt but did act unprofessionally.

Allen suspended Ramirez for 11-days for his unprofessional conduct.

The review board members were each given copies of the police investigative reports and then allowed three weeks to study the evidence before meeting together for the first time on Sept. 24 to discuss the case and make their decisions as a board. (Download a copy of the report below)

Police spokesman Javier Sambrano said the board reached its decisions unanimously that day.

Ramirez, a 19-year veteran, was demoted from sergeant to officer and suspended in May for slapping a Franklin High School student in the back of the head in the process of arresting him during a fight near the school last November.

Hunt declined comment on the case because he has filed a claim against the city seeking $450,000 in damages in connection with the April 20 incident. Filing such a claim is often the first step to a lawsuit.

Dupont has since resigned from KVIA and could not be reached for comment.

Hunt and Ramirez were present outside the review board meeting room and available for questions. The board called Ramirez in to answer questions but not Hunt, the report said.

The report, which the Police Department drafted after the board’s meeting, stated that conditions were hectic at the scene of an overturned tractor trailer that was blocking the westbound lanes of Interstate-10. It said that cars, including KVIA’s news vehicle, had stopped in the center emergency lane of the freeway and that traffic had slowed down significantly in the eastbound lanes.

“The investigation revealed that Hunt and Dupont had been advised multiple times to move from where they were, including by an officer on I-10 East heading to another emergency that had to swerve out of the way to avoid hitting them,” the report states. “The board determined the issue of the detention or arrest to be unlawful was unfounded, as probable cause did exist at that time for Officer Ramirez to conduct an arrest for interfering with public duties.

“Both had been warned multiple times and at the time, Officer Ramirez perceived the comments by Hunt as if they were not going to move at which time Officer Ramirez proceeded to grabbed Hunt and began to detain him. During this time, the officer based on his training felt Hunt passively resisting and tightening up, and felt placing handcuffs at that moment was necessary.”

Hunt and Dupont were released afterward at the Westside substation when the commanding officer determined that there was insufficient evidence to charge them.

Many El Pasoans saw Dupont’s video showing Ramirez climbing over the cyclone fence that separated the east- and west-bound lanes and angrily warning Hunt and Dupont to get in the KVIA vehicle and leave the scene.

Just under 40 seconds elapsed from the time Ramirez came to the fence and climbed over it until he and Hunt pinned against the KVIA vehicle and told him he was being arrested.

What people around the world who watched the video of the incident on the Internet never saw, Sambrano said, was what happened before Dupont began recording the altercation between Ramirez and Hunt.

“What was found in the investigation was that there were witnesses who stated that Ramirez had warned both Darren Hunt and Ric Dupont before he came over the fence,” Sambrano said. “In fact, one of the individuals who witnessed the accident and stopped said Ramirez was very calm when ordering them many times to move.”

Allen’s decision to assemble a civilian disciplinary review board was not something El Pasoans have seen in years.

“The El Paso Police Department in years past has convened similar boards on cases that become very high profile, as this case did due to the involvement of members of the news media,” the report states. “In fairness to the case, the El Paso Police Department felt that it was important to have members of such a board consist of some members of the media.”

Asked when such a board was last used, Sambrano said he thinks it was during the tenure of former Police Chief John Scagno, who served as chief from 1987 until late 1994 or early 1995. Sambrano said he did not know the details about Scagno’s use of such a board.

The civilan review board was made up of KDBC News Director Scott Pickey, KINT News Director Zoltan Csanyi, El Paso Times Publisher Ray Stafford, lawyers Jack T. Chapman and Kevin E. Shannon and former news reporter and Sheriff’s Department public information officer, Rick Glancey.

Also present at the board’s meeting to answer questions were Assistant Chief Michelle Gardner, Assistant Chief Robert Feidner, Assistant Chief Eric Shelton, attorney and Internal Affairs Director Jennifer Callan and Sambrano.

* * *

To reach David Crowder, write to dcrowder@epmediagroup.com or call (915) 351-0605, ext. 30, or 630-6622.

Related Documents: