Grand Jury: No indictment for Galvan, other officers

By FREDDY JIMENEZ
Special to the NEWS

With a nine-month long Texas Rangers investigation coming to an end, this week Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz announced that former San Benito Police Department Chief Michael Galvan, who is now Assistant Police Chief, and other officers involved were “not billed,” or not indicted in regards to a shooting that occurred on December 7, 2018 resulting in the death of 21-year-old San Benito resident Ricardo Treviño III.

Saenz held a press conference on Wednesday, Sept. 18 in which he told the media the findings of the investigation held by the Texas Rangers. “The Texas Rangers presented their investigation of the officer involved shooting on December 7, 2018 to a grandy jury this morning. The deadly force used by officers on that day resulted in the death of Ricardo Treviño [III]. The grand jury concluded that said officers were justified in their use of deadly force,” read Saenz. “Their conclusion was based on the applicable law and the facts as determined by the Texas Rangers investigation.”

Ricardo Treviño III, 21, was fatally shot by San Benito police officers on Dec. 7, 2018 after a high speed chase ensued from the church located at 480 E. Expressway. According to reports and family members, police were initially called because Treviño had ingested a large number of painkillers, but he refused to confront police and drove off. The car chase, according to Saenz, lasted about 20 minutes, covering an area of about 22 miles.

The San Benito officers involved were then Chief of Police Michael Galvan, Victor Alejandro Espitia, and David Reynaldo Rebolledo. The other law enforcement agency involved was Deputy Constable Pct. 5 Jose Angel Villareal and Deputy Constable Pct. 5 Carlos Cordoba. Though the number of times Treviño was shot was not presented, Saenz did say four police officers fired 31 rounds.

Sitting down with the NEWS, Saenz summarized the officers’ and Galvan’s actions as an act of self-defense while stressing the five attempts the chief made to bring the chase to a halt.

Treviño’s mother, April Flores, expressed deep disappointment and anger over the grand jury’s decision. “I don’t understand why the accountability is different when it’s an officer,” she said. “No one should be above the law. What’s wrong is wrong, doesn’t matter what title you hold. Across the nation, officers tend to cover for officers.”

The City of San Benito, Wednesday evening, released a statement reading, “Now that the criminal investigation part of this incident has been concluded, the City will renew its request for the underlying criminal investigative materials from the Texas Rangers. These materials will become part of the civil service investigative process, and that process can now go forward.”

Editor’s note: This article has been edited for length. To read the full story, click here or make sure to grab a copy at one of our various newspaper racks.

 

Permanent link to this article: https://www.sbnewspaper.com/2019/09/20/grand-jury-no-indictment-for-galvan-other-officers/

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    • tony on October 7, 2019 at 1:12 pm
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    MAYBE YOU PEOPLE SHOULD DO THE INVESTIGATION. LOOKS LIKE YOUR MORE QUALIFIED. YOU ALL MUST HAVE SOME TYPE OF-COLLAGE DEGREE ON INVESTIGATION.

  1. In a picture the DA is holding up a diagram of the crash report. A picture on Channel 5 is totally different from what the diagram shows. Another thing is that San Benito Police Officer Rebolledo is the one that did the diagram and investigated the crash. But wait isn’t Officer Rebolledo one of the officers that shot Ricardo Trevino ? Like what the heck is going on here? How could the city allow that to happen? Why didn’t Dps handle the so called crash?Maybe cause it never happened ? Or maybe cause the so called crash didn’t happen on a road way? Maybe because the so called crash didn’t fall under the reportable accidents in tx due to amount of damage under 1 thousand dollars. Many Many things don’t add up and maybe a cover-up? I believe the FBI should step in and investigate everyone that had to do with that Killing of Ricardo Trevino. The Truth is out there and we want to know.

  2. The killing of Ricardo Trevino was just so wrong. Sure the officers were no-billed by a Grand Jury but it still not right.The SBPD officers turned the situation into a Police matter when the call went out to EMS. One of the jobs of a Police Officer is to De-escalate a situation not escalate it and to use good sound judgment. The killing was very preventable if the proper procedures would have been followed.I see the city loosing a MULTIMILLION DOLLAR LAWSUIT on this one. Now what need to be done appropriate discipline needs to be handed down to the X-Police Chief and Officer Rebolledo.I see further Law Suits if the city manager fails to do his Ethical Duty. Remember Mayor you told the citizens If someone did something wrong they would be held accountable. Many are watching to see what becomes.

    • David on September 25, 2019 at 7:18 am
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    Luis sanez needs to be removed from office- that man has made many questionable statements I wonder how much Sanez pays on his home property taxes? How much is Cameron county appraisal district valuing his appraised home? Actually every politician from, judges to commissioners/ there family members- should be interesting to know how much each and everyone of them are paying taxes on there homes/investment properties! Even the people who work for the appraisal district should be looked at, every employee of Cameron county should be looked at its time to clean out the swamp

  1. […] In the past the Texas Rangers have been called to conduct these investigations, usually finding no wrongdoing on the police’s part. There surely are other third-party mediators that can be summoned. Can we […]

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