Road Rage SAPD Officer Returns to Duty
Here is yet another reason why the public does not trust law enforcement officers. SAPD Officer Dezi Rios, who has been involved in his second off-duty incident that appear to involve road rage on his part, is returning to duty. This officer has already shown himself to be a danger to the public but Chief McManus welcomed him back.
The Defender’s video has footage from the 2017 incident involving Nathan Pezina. In the video Mr. Pezina clearly states that he had a gun but did not point it at Officer Rios. However, the police report, generated by fellow officers of Rios, states that Pezina said he pointed the gun at Officer Rios. And in Chief McManus’ remarks, he too says that Pezina pointed a gun at Rios. This is one of the issues that has come to light with cell phones and body cameras.
Police have always been given the benefit of the doubt that they write true and accurate reports but that just isn’t the case. Anyone who thinks personal biases don’t come into play, is just kidding themselves. Rather than listen to the suspect on video, they preferred to believe what the officer wrote. Where is the body cam footage of the comment where he supposedly is saying he did point the gun at the officer? The obvious preferential treatment shown to Officer Rios leaves the neutrality of the investigation in serious question.
But that’s just the first shooting. In the second shooting he crippled Demontae Walker for life. Both the first and second incidents appear to have been road rage incidents on the part of Officer Rios. In both cases he was off-duty so the other person involved didn’t know he was interacting with a police officer. All they see is someone getting aggressive with them.
We recommend you watch the video by KSAT Defenders. They did an excellent job on this story.