Joshua Montaño, a police officer of Albuquerque, resigned as the fifth officer amid a scandal in which the police allegedly colluded with a local lawyer to eliminate drunk driving cases in exchange for bribes. Montaño, who had been in service for over 19 years, was put on administrative leave before quitting. His resignation letter gives insights into the supposed corruption throughout the DWI unit within the Albuquerque Police Department (APD). This unit is the subject of an FBI investigation, as well as an APD probe.
Montaño, in his resignation letter, claimed he believed he would have an opportunity to discuss his knowledge about the FBI’s investigation. However, he said he ultimately decided not to cooperate with the APD investigators to avoid becoming the department’s scapegoat. Montaño accused the police chief, Harold Medina, who is also under investigation, of downplaying the severity of the situation.
The FBI is reportedly examining cases where officers neglected their court dates, leading to the dismissal of DWI cases. Montaño argued that the responsibility for the misconduct runs up the chain of command and goes back several years.
Medina has publicly acknowledged the FBI’s investigation and pledged to carry out concurrent investigations. However, Montaño’s lawyer, Thomas Grover, criticized the department for its haphazard response to the FBI’s inquiries.
So far, no charges have been filed relating to these allegations. However, a district attorney’s office has dismissed around 200 DWI cases, citing unreliability in the testimony from the officers who had made the arrests. It is reported that many of the cases involved two officers, Alba and Montaño, who are implicated in this scandal.
Three other officers had already resigned prior to Montaño, and two more are currently under investigation. Grover suggested that the scope of the issue was much broader, stating it “goes outward and upward.”
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