By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
A 17-yar-old Val Verde County resident was arrested and charged with felony drug possession and tampering with evidence following a motor vehicle accident, police said.
Hector Elias, 337 Dogwood St., was arrested at 12:12 p.m. Aug. 6, according to a report released recently by the Del Rio Police Department. Elias was charged with the offense of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, a third-degree felony; and of possession of a controlled substance, Penalty Group 1, less than one gram, a state jail felony; the report on his arrest shows.
In an affidavit filed in the case, DRPD Officer Homer Perez reported he was dispatched to the intersection of East 15th Street and Avenue G at 11:07 a.m. on Aug. 6 after police received a report about a vehicle striking a utility pole. Perez said en route to the accident, police dispatchers advised him two men were seen fleeing the scene of the crash.
Perez reported the dispatchers informed him one of the men was wearing a black shirt and blue jeans and the other was wearing a Dallas Cowboys football jersey.
Perez wrote when he arrived, he saw a 2003 Dodge Neon had struck a utility pole located near the intersection.
“As I parked my patrol unit to the south of the intersection, I observed the male subject wearing the Dallas Cowboys jersey, later identified as Gabriel Gomez, sitting by the vehicle, with minor injuries. I made contact with Gomez, who identified himself as the driver of the vehicle, and requested emergency medical services for medical evaluation,” Perez wrote.
He said as he began gathering information at the crash site, two off-duty police officers who were nearby when the accident occurred told him they had seen two men walking south on Avenue G away from the crashed vehicle, but then turn around and return to the car.
One of the eyewitnesses, Del Rio Police Department Cadet Ivan Chavez, told Perez he saw the man in the black shirt and jeans, later identified as Elias, walk to the passenger side of the car and take out a white baggie. The man then left the car and walked toward McDonald’s restaurant near the scene of the crash.
Perez said he advised other officers who responded to the scene about the man who had removed the baggie from the crashed car, and one of them found Elias in the playground area outside the restaurant. Elias told the officer he had walked to the restaurant to speak to his mother, who works there.
Perez said the officer brought Elias back to the accident scene.
Perez said Elias “appeared to be disoriented and possibly under the influence of a narcotic.” When he asked Elias if he has anything in his pockets, Elias removed a tobacco cigarillo from a pants pocket.
Since Elias is 17 years old and was in possession of a tobacco product, Perez said he conducted a pat-down search of Elias.
Perez wrote the officer who had located Elias in the McDonald’s playground area said he found a small baggie containing a white powdery substance close to where Elias had been found.
“The officer advised he reviewed security video footage and observed Elias enter McDonald’s and adjust his pants in a suspicious manner, attempting to conceal an item,” Perez wrote.
Elias refused to answer officers’ questions, and he was arrested and taken to the police station for processing.
“At the Del Rio Police Department, a strip search was conducted on Elias. Elias’ pants and underwear were removed, and a white baggie was located concealed near his groin. Officers inspected the baggie, but no narcotics were located,” Perez wrote.
He noted the white powdery substance in the baggie recovered by the other officer from the McDonald’s playground field tested positive for cocaine and weighed a total of 0.4 grams.
Elias was charged with felony tampering with evidence and felony drug possession.
Bonds totaling $25,000 were set in the two cases by Justice of the Peace Pct. 3 Pat Cole.
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