Acevedo fires Quintana over DWI charge

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Austin Police Department Chief Art Acevedo fired officer Leonardo Quintana from the police force over a January driving while intoxicated charge in Leander.

Quintana, 33, faced a hearing before Acevedo earlier in the week. According to the police association, the result of that hearing is that Quintana is "indefinitely suspended," which is roughly equivalent to being fired.

"APD employees subscribe and are held to the highest levels of ethical conduct," said Acevedo. "The facts and reasons leading to the indefinite suspension are documented in the disciplinary memorandum, which speaks for itself."

Acevedo said the decision reached by the chain of command during the review of this incident was unanimous.

Still, Quintana does have the right to appeal Acevedo's decision. This is the first time in 12 years that an APD officer has been suspended on a first-time DWI charge.

"This is very disheartening," said Austin Police Association President Wayne Vincent. "Lenny was a good police officer."

According to his disciplinary memo, Quintana went to a sushi bar and gentleman's club with a number of friends on the night of Jan. 11. Despite the fact he had consumed several alcoholic beverages, he then drove to a home in Leander, where he continued to drink.

According to the memo, "Despite knowing that he was intoxicated and should not be operating a motor vehicle, Officer Quintana chose to disregard an offer to sleep at the residence and instead decided to drive home with a female he met that night."

During the drive home, at approximately 5 a.m., Quintana's vehicle struck a traffic control circle in Leander, according to the memo. Officers from the Leander Police Department, responding to a 911 call, determined Quintana was intoxicated.

Because he refused to provide a breath or blood sample, his driving privileges were suspended for 180 days. The criminal case is ongoing.

At the time of the arrest, a number of Quintana's colleagues called the behavior out of character and noted Quintana was picked up after a six-hour deposition in a federal civil rights lawsuit related to the shooting death of Nathaniel Sanders.

According to an arrest warrant, officers found Quintana at the scene of a crash around 5 a.m. Jan. 12. 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.

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

Quintana is the officer who was involved in the controversial fatal shooting of Nathaniel Sanders in May 2009.

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 Acevedo suspended the officer for 15 days for failing to turn on his camera.

The shooting is unrelated to the DWI and the decision of the chief on Thursday.

Sanders' parents filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Quintana shortly after the shooting. On Jan. 11, 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 at the time. "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 was placed on restrictive duty following his DWI arrest. He is represented by the police union attorney Tom Stribling.

At Monday's hearing, Stribling said Quintana told Acevedo that he had problems with alcohol in the past but has been sober since his arrest in January.

Stribling said Quintana did not try to place blame on stress from the Sanders' shooting and lawsuit, saying that he took responsibility for using poor judgment to drive and drive.