Days after taking a leave of absence, the indicted police chief of Sullivan City is now on formal administrative leave. City Manager Judy Davila has placed Chief Miguel Martinez on paid leave until the criminal charges against him are resolved.
Martinez is charged with abuse of official capacity and theft. The charges stem from department video showing him standing by as one of his officers picked up stray marijuana leaves off the police evidence room floor. That now-former officer, Angel De La Mora, has claimed he mixed the marijuana remnants with rubbing alcohol which a relative used as a folk medicine for pain. Davila says the police chief’s duties are being divided among an investigator and a sergeant, and that other officers will be working overtime.