Officer arrested for alleged DWI

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Austin Police Department Officer Leonardo Quintana, 33, was arrested Monday night for drunk driving in Leander, according to police reports.

Quintana is the officer who was involved in the controversial shooting of  Nathaniel Sanders last year.  Quintana failed to turn on his dashboard camera during the traffic stop which ended in Sanders' death. A grand jury cleared Quintana of any criminal wrongdoing in the shooting, but Police Chief Art Acevedo suspended the officer for 15 days for failing to turn on his camera.

Quintana was arrested early Tuesday morning and taken to the Williamson County Jail. According to an arrest warrant, officers found Quintana at the scene of a crash around 5:00 a.m. Tuesday. His SUV appeared to have been wrecked and the tires were flat. Officers said they smelled alcohol on Quintana's breath, but he refused a breathalyzer test at the scene. He was released on a $1,000 bond just before 2 p.m. Tuesday.

"The whole Austin police community is devastated by the news of the arrest," said Wayne Vincent, President of the Austin Police Association. "The charge that is alleged is so uncharacteristic of the Lenny that we know, we're just kind of in shock."

Nathaniel Sanders' parents filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Quintana shortly after the shooting. On Monday, Quintana was questioned in that case for more than six hours, according to Sander's family attorney Adam Loewy.

"These are serious charges, but let's also remember that this is an alleged type deal right now," said Vincent. "We don't have any of the facts and there will be a process to go through when everybody will learn exactly what happened.

Quintana has been placed on restrictive duty following his DUI arrest.