Lawsuit: Police in Tucumcari profiled travelers, pilfered cash

Tom Sharpe | The New Mexican
May 22, 2010 - 5/22/10

Two Kansas residents claim in a lawsuit filed in Santa Fe that police in Tucumcari stole $47,000 in cash from them because they were assumed to be Mexican nationals.

Carlos Portillo and Kristal Hidalgo of Liberal, Kan., say they were driving west on U.S. 54 from Kansas to El Paso on May 2 with $59,000 to buy farming equipment, when they were stopped by a Tucumcari patrolman for going 10 miles over the speed limit.

Portillo is a U.S. citizen and Hidalgo has a visa to be in the country, according to the complaint filed May 14 in state District Court. The document alleges the speeding violation is "not an arrestable offense." But "he appeared to be a Mexican national to the police officer who detained both plaintiffs without probable cause. ... Plaintiffs fit some sort of profile in violation of their civil rights."

After other unnamed police officers, including from the New Mexico State Police, arrived at the scene, they searched the vehicle with a drug-sniffing dog, but found no contraband, the complaint says. Nevertheless, it says, Portillo and Hidalgo were "illegally arrested" and "falsely told" that their cash contained the "residue of cocaine."

The complaint also states that, "Without probable cause, defendants seized plaintiffs' clothes, including Plaintiff Portillo's boots, the car (a 2008 Chevrolet Impala) and most of the U.S. currency. ... Inexplicably the police officers returned $2,000 from Plaintiff Portillo's wallet to him for spending money, drove plaintiffs to a nearby hotel, and provided a receipt for property seized by the city police ... except for the U.S. currency!"

According to the complaint, no speeding ticket was issued. But, it charges, officers "divided approximately $47,000 in cash amongst several police officers, including one able to interpret Spanish into English, and intend to keep the cash with no record of having seized a large sum of cash."

The complaint against the city of Tucumcari and State Police Chief Faron Segotta asks a judge to order the police to account for all property seized, including the cash, and to return it to Portillo and Hidalgo. The case has been assigned to state District Judge Raymond Ortiz, who has yet to schedule a hearing.

Neither Tucumcari Police Chief Jason Braziel nor the spokesman for the state police responded to a message seeking comment Friday. Portillo's attorney, Stephen Aarons, also was unavailable for comment.

Contact Tom Sharpe at 986-3080 or tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.

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