Immigration and Deportation News: Joe Arpaio's Latino Racial Profiling Case Complicated by Officer's Suicide
Sheriff Joe Arpaio is already under close watch by a federal monitor in a profiling case, but things might get more complicated.
His deputy, Ramon Charley Armendariz, committed suicide and left behind hundreds of fake IDs, a stash of drugs and thousands of videos recorded at traffic stops that weren't used in a racial profiling case against Arpaio, Fox News Latino noted.
It means that cases may be thrown out and that Arpaio could be watched closer.
Arpaio's lawyer said that Armendariz was solely responsible for being aggressive at traffic stop with people living in the United States illegally.
"I don't know what triggered him," the lawyer said.
The opposing lawyer is suspicious of Arpaio's office running the investigation.
"A law enforcement agency that launches this kind of investigation shouldn't have stated a desired outcome," Cecilia Wang said.
The Spanish-speaking Armendariz moved from Texas to Arizona in 2004. He started off as a jail officer but worked his way up to deputy. He and other officers would flood areas with Latino residents for several days and look for violators and other offenders. The squad was sued for systematically profiling Latinos.
He also had problems turning in reports, which were found in his house.
Last month he was firing a pepper ball gun in his garage. He was believed to be having a manic episode or to have been high on drugs. He was arrested, and then the next day he did a 90-minute interview with investigators. He quit his job and blamed other officers of wrongdoing.
Days later, police arrived at his home because friends were worried that he would hurt himself. It took nine hours, but they were able to get him to a psychiatric center. That week he was found dead in his home.
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