THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2001

WWW.USDOJ.GOV

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT INDICTS FORMER FRIO COUNTY, TEXAS

WASHINGTON, D.C. The Department of Justice announced today that three former deputies of the Frio County Sheriff's Department were arrested and indicted yesterday on a multi-count indictment alleging various criminal civil rights violations, including thefts of property arson and excessive force.

The indictment charges that between August 1996 and February 2001 John Craig Waldrum, Christopher James Westbrook and Tim Otis Duncan conspired to commit numerous burglaries, thefts, assaults and firearm offenses in the Frio County area while they were on duty and acting as sworn law enforcement officers. Search warrants executed at the defendants' homes revealed numerous items stolen from area homes, cars and businesses.

The indictment alleges that the three former deputy sheriff's conducted unlawful traffic stops of motorists in an attempt to extort money and steal property from individuals. Additionally, the government alleges that the defendants set fire to a mobile home and stole firearms from an evidence room of a local police station.

"Today's indictments send a firm message that law enforcement officers who abuse their authority by preying on the very citizens they are sworn to protect and serve will be held accountable. These officers breached the public's trust with impunity, and such reprehensible conduct simply will not be tolerated," said Ralph F. Boyd, Jr., Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation worked with the Frio County Sheriff's Department to investigate the case. Attorneys from the Criminal Section of Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. are prosecuting these cases.