Officer arrested in solicitation operation
A Houston police officer was arrested Tuesday for allegedly trying to solicit sex during a sting operation in Fort Bend County, according to court records.
The officer, Danny Le, a 22-year veteran of the Houston Police Department who was assigned to the downtown division, was relieved of duty the same day pending the outcome of the investigation, according to police department spokesman Kese
Smith.
Le posted a $500 bond on Wednesday after he was charged with one misdemeanor count of solicitation, Fort Bend County district court records show. Reached at his home, he declined to comment.
The Houston Police Officers’ Union will not be representing Le in the case because the alleged offense did not involve his official duties, according to HPOU President Joe Gamaldi, who declined further comment.
Police Chief Art Acevedo could not be reached for comment.
Le is the sixth HPD police officer in the last three years busted for allegedly soliciting sex or for other alleged improper behavior with prostitutes.
In January 2016, deputies with the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable’s Office arrested HPD Offi
cer Tony James Sellers, 46, during a crackdown on prostitution in north Harris County. Court records show he pleaded no contest and received deferred adjudication probation. He retired in 2016, according to an HPD spokesman.
Nine months later, Houston police arrested Officer Jermaine Owens during an undercover operation after he met with an undercover Internal Affairs officer at a Motel 6 in west Houston, according to his disciplinary paperwork. He was subsequently fired and criminally charged, but the case was dismissed after he was placed in a pretrial diversion program.
In October 2017, city police arrested Officer Robert Teweleit, one
of 139 men caught up in a department sting at a massage parlor, according to court records. Teweleit pleaded no contest to the charge and received deferred adjudication probation. He retired in November of that year, according to a police spokesman. Teweleit’s probation was reduced and terminated in 2018.
In January, Acevedo fired another officer, Jose Garcia III, after Harris County homicide investigators found texts from him to a murdered woman who had a history of prostitution. Harris County Sheriff ’s Office investigators found 690 text messages between Garcia and the woman, including one in which he asked if he could get a discount because he was a first responder, according to police records and testimony during a recent disciplinary hearing.
Garcia told internal affairs investigators that he was seeking a platonic relationship with the woman and denied paying her money but admitted the two had sex in a hotel room. He appealed his firing, but an independent hearing examiner upheld the officer’s termination in May.
In late April, Officer Moises Saldana Jr. was arrested and charged with drunken driving. According to court records, police said Saldana was trying to pick up a prostitute at a Burger King on Bissonnet Street in southwest Houston when police arrived at the scene. They arrested him after he tried to drive off, according to the records.
He was charged with driving under the influence; authorities said he had a blood alcohol content of more than twice the legal limit. His case is pending. Saldana’s attorney,
Ali Fazel, said his client wasn’t involved in prostitution at the time of his arrest.
“Although there have been allegations of prostitution, Mr. Saldana vehemently denies any involvement with prostitution,” Fazel said, noting that he has not been charged with any offense other than drunken driving. “He was in an area where prostitution goes on, but so what?”
Fazal said his client no longer works for the police department but was not fired. An HPD spokeswoman confirmed he was no longer with the department.
Phillip Lyons, dean of the college of criminal justice at Sam Houston State University, noted that an officer’s arrest “doesn’t help” the public’s confidence in law enforcement.
“I think there are a few things going on, and one is simply the inconsistency between breaking the law and enforcing the law,” said Lyons, who is also a former police officer. “We lose the confidence people have in us that we’re the right people to enforce the law — that’s the biggest hit we take in these circumstances.”
Lyons said the fact that Le’s alleged misconduct was uncovered by other Houston police officers might help mitigate that issue.
“The fact remains that HPD is going after it’s own, there is no cover-up, there was alleged misconduct and they are acting on it,” he said. “That in itself should help to restore confidence.”