Posted 12:52 pm Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Rains County Deputy Fired After Crash With Teens, Drugs In Car
By KENNETH DEAN
Staff Writer
EMORY — He was once a lawman, but now he is a suspect in a case that has shaken the Rains County Sheriff’s Department.
Staff Writer
EMORY — He was once a lawman, but now he is a suspect in a case that has shaken the Rains County Sheriff’s Department.
Officials say the fired deputy and a teenage girl were ejected from his vehicle during an accident — an accident where open containers of alcohol were found along with a torn evidence envelope that contained marijuana from a case he had worked.
John Wallace, 26, is recovering from broken bones and other injuries, but the former deputy may soon be facing multiple felony and misdemeanor charges including tampering with evidence.
Kurt Fischer, Rains County Sheriff’s chief deputy, told the Tyler Morning Telegraph the incident has left the department in shock and him wondering how no one was aware of the five-year veteran’s “lifestyle.”
“This was totally under the radar stuff. No one had an idea that this was going on and it is very upsetting,” he said.
Fischer said that, while Texas Department of Public Safety trooper Joe Hogue and the Texas Rangers are working the case, he would give details to the newspaper.
He said the accident happened Thursday about 3:30 a.m. on Farm-to-Market Road 779 just outside Emory.
“He drifted into oncoming traffic and one of the passengers actually grabbed the wheel and yanked it back. That’s how the truck flipped over,” he said.
Fischer said Wallace and 17-year-old Erin Murray, of Emory, were ejected and both were flown to Tyler hospitals for their injuries. DPS officials said Wallace remained in the hospital Tuesday and that Murray may have been released.
Also suffering minor injuries in the accident and passengers in Wallace’s truck were Gary Lynch, 21, of Live Oak; Payton Lytle, 18, of Pointe; and Sarah Gaston, 18, of Emory.
Fischer said he learned of the situation when trooper Hogue called him and said there was a problem.
“He said there were open containers of alcohol, minors and an opened evidence envelope,” he said. “Once the sheriff (Sheriff David Traylor) heard he fired Wallace immediately.”
Fischer said the evidence envelope contained marijuana that Wallace had confiscated in a criminal case. He said even stranger still was the fact that one of the injured people in the truck with Wallace was the defendant in the case.
“Trooper Hogue said that there were baggies of marijuana outside of the truck so that is a little unclear at this time, but it appears they were destroying evidence,” he said.
Fischer did not say if anyone was smoking the marijuana.
Texas Ranger Sgt. John Vance told the newspaper Monday that he did not know how long the investigation would take.
“I’ve just begun scratching the surface in this case,” he said.
However, Vance did say Fischer was correct in the charges that may be filed against Wallace: felony tampering with evidence and intoxication assault along with misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance and three counts of contributing to a minor.
Fischer said the impact has been great on the small department and he has thought of reviewing policies involving drug and alcohol testing of employees.
He also said he did not know if Wallace had removed evidence before, but that he was reviewing all of Wallace’s cases.
“Anyone wearing a badge who does something wrong definitely needs to face justice just like everyone else,” he said. “Things like this make us all look bad.”
