EL PASO, Texas– KFOX14 Investigates learns the El Paso Police Department disciplined two officers following a four-vehicle crash involving an officer.
KFOX14 first investigated the accident after witnesses claimed the officer ran the red light and tried to cover it up.
Police gave another driver a tickets and said she was at fault.
Witnesses accuse the police of lying and fabricating a report to protect their own.
One year after the crash, KFOX14 Chief Investigative Reporter Genevieve Curtis obtains never before seen video and discovers who really ran the red light.
After the accident on Fred Wilson and Dyer, just before midnight on Aug. 15, 2014, three of the four stunned and confused drivers all had the same story.
The police officer ran the red light.
But their version of events didn’t make it into the police report.
Instead officers pinned the accident on one driver, Allyson Granados, writing her two tickets; one for speeding and one for running a red light.
She turned to KFOX14 last summer for help.
After KFOX14 told her story it launched an internal affairs investigation, which now shows Granados did nothing wrong.
“I don’t know how many times I’ve broken down and cried because I’m going up against the Police Department,” Granados told KFOX14.
Police dash-cam video KFOX14 Investigates obtained shows then-rookie Officer Jonathan Rucker on patrol.
He makes a traffic stop for a brake light problem and discovers both passengers have traffic warrants.
After placing both women in the back of his squad car he proceeds towards North East regional command — when he realizes something was missing.
In this video he is seen searching for his ticket book and then, impact.
The squad car collides with Granados’ car.
Richard Powell was the front seat passenger in Granados’ car that night.
“The car spun around,” said Powell.
KFOX14 Investigates spoke to five witnesses last year, three of whom were drivers and they all agreed it was Officer Rucker who ran the red light.
Those KFOX14 spoke to a year later maintain the same story.
“He said that we ran the red light when in all reality we had the green light and he had the red light,” said Powell.
They all said they gave those statements to police at the time.
“Everyone saw the exact same thing except for the officer. It seemed law enforcement was the only one that saw things differently,” said Nicole Austin, another driver that night.
Despite that information, the officer handling the accident, Officer Leilani Ramos, still wrote Granados the two tickets.
“Why is she getting tickets for something he had caused?” said Powell.
Nicole Austin and her mother were driving down Fred Wilson heading east. Austin said she had the green light when she entered the intersection. That’s when the patrol car first hit Granados then spun and hit Austin. Her BMW was totaled. But from the beginning Austin felt officers were twisting her words.
“I just feel from right there they were trying to cover up that an officer had violated traffic rules,” said Austin.
Austin remembers seeing the two women who had been in the back of the patrol car as they were being placed in the ambulance.
“They had blood running down their faces because they were handcuffed with their hands behind their back the entire time. The first thing they started screaming (at the officer) was,‘You ran the red light, I can’t believe you did this; my life was in your hands, you just ran that red light,’ they were screaming that,” said Austin.
After KFOX14’s initial report, El Paso Police Internal Affairs launched its own investigation the next day.
That report, which includes copies of our story concluded in February.
It determined Officer Rucker was in fact responsible for the crash because he ran the red light.
After being questioned by internal affairs detectives — Rucker even admitted he may have run the red light.
In a transcript of Rucker’s interview with an internal affairs investigator they are watching surveillance video of the accident from the Good Time Convenience Store.
“Investigator: Do you agree that there appears to be a vehicle stopped at the light facing northbound?
Rucker: Yes, you can slightly observe what appear to be headlights of a vehicle in the northbound lane stopped.
Investigator: Would you agree that this meant you possibly had the red light at the intersection?
Rucker: Yes, it could. Possibly could.
Investigator: Is it possible that you had a red light and were distracted that point in time looking for your ticket book?
Rucker: Yes it is possible.
For his actions, Rucker received a letter of reprimand.
Police Chief Greg Allen wrote in that letter, “The evidence showed that you had the red light and failed to yield the right of way because you were not paying attention.”
“Your conduct caused this accident that was clearly preventable.”
He also added, “Your carelessness could have resulted in more serious consequences.”
Investigators pulled the black box from Granados’ car and found she was actually only going 19 miles per hour at the time of the crash. Well under the 40 mile-per-hour speed limit. While Rucker was traveling 39 miles per hour.
Officer Ramos was sent to take a ticket writing refresher course because investigators determined she wrote the ticket for speeding without having proper independent evidence.
However, she was not reprimanded for citing Allyson as the driver at fault or for writing her a ticket for running the red light.
While internal affairs determined allegations against Ramos and Rucker to be true, statements by other officers show they felt the department was bending to political pressure and stood by the initial traffic investigation.
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