The Albuquerque Police Department has expanded its internal investigation into corruption in the DWI unit to yet another officer — bringing the total to nine.
Matthew Trahan was put on leave Wednesday, APD spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos confirmed. He said Trahan was hired in 2006 and served in the DWI unit from 2014 to 2016.
Of the nine officers under investigation, six have left the department rather than be interviewed.
Several of the officers are under federal investigation for allegations that they coordinated with the office of defense attorney Thomas Clear III to get DWI cases dismissed. No one has been charged.
Read more about the investigation into the officers here.
The officers who have resigned are: Justin Hunt, Honorio Alba, Joshua Montaño, Harvey Johnson, Nelson Ortiz and Daren DeAguero. DeAguero — who was also a longtime department spokesperson — resigned just last week.
Two members of the Internal Affairs Division are also under investigation — Cmdr. Mark Landavazo and a lieutenant who has not been publicly identified. Landavazo has been put on leave, the lieutenant was transferred to another division within APD.
Trahan was last in the news in 2016 when he was charged with domestic violence against his then fiancée — also an officer.
According to a criminal complaint, Trahan’s fiancée told a friend — also an APD officer — that Trahan had “punched her in the face, knocked her down and kicked her numerous times.” She later denied that story and said she had fallen into a shoe rack but investigators didn’t believe her since she had “swelling and bruising across the left side of her cheek and eye, a bloody left eyeball, and a bruised and swollen left ear,” according to the complaint.
The charges against Trahan were dismissed after he complied with all the requirements of a diversion program.
Editor’s note: the post has been updated to correct the officer’s first name.