Charges dismissed
Son of former Gallup police chief dodges DWI accusation

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Phil Stake
Staff writer

GALLUP — Charges from 2007 against Sylvester Stanley III, the son of ousted Gallup Police Chief Sylvester Stanley Jr., were dismissed June 2 — when the statute of limitations, which allowed prosecutors six months to convict, expired.

The elder Stanley held the title of police chief between March 2004 and March 2007; he announced his intention to run for Bernalillo County Sheriff in April of this year.

The dismissal came more than a year after Stanley III, then 25 — agreed to a plea bargain, which would have dismissed the DWI charge, granted he complete the McKinley County DWI/Drug court program, according to court records. Stanley III agreed to the plea in November 2007, about two months after his arrest. He then failed to attend his assigned DWI/Drug court dates, and was never again called before a judge.

McKinley County Sheriff’s Deputy Owen Peña arrested Stanley III Sept. 29, 2007, after Stanley III had been asked by security to leave the Class Act, a bar inside the Rio West Mall on Gallup’s west side. He was “kicked out of the Class Act Lounge for being disorderly and attempting to start fights,” Peña wrote in the original incident report after interviewing security guards. Peña and several other deputies had gathered in the parking lot outside the bar about 1:30 a.m. to visually deter drunken driving.

According to the report, Stanley III, whose father had been ousted from office six months prior under a cloud of cronyism, then asked the deputies to help him get back into the bar. The black and Hispanic man said he’d been removed because of his race. He also admitted he was drunk, according to the report. When the deputies suggested he go home, Stanley III said he was going to complain to their supervisors.

Fifteen minutes later the same deputies saw Stanley III driving his silver Mustang east on Maloney Avenue, straddling lanes and making wide turns. Peña pulled him over. Asked to perform the alphabet, Stanley III failed, according to report.

“Mr. Stanley slurred his letters and skipped some of his letters,” the report reads.

Stanley III claimed the DWI stop had been set up. He confused Peña with another deputy who had been outside the Class Act ... and said that Peña was being racist.

“When I advised Mr. Stanley that I was Hispanic, he shouted in my face that he was Hispanic, too,” the report reads.

While performing field sobriety tests, Stanley grew combative, raising his arms and shouting at Peña. Peña gave him an opportunity to calm down and continue before arresting him at 1:55 a.m. — about 30 minutes after Stanley III had been rejected by bar security. Peña reported that Stanley continued to shout obscenities while in the back seat of the cruiser. He threatened to sue for racism.

Police found an open 16-ounce beer can inside Stanley III’s car, which Stanley III later stated had been planted to incriminate him. His breathalyzer results showed a blood-alcohol content of .11 and .12 — about 1.5 times the legal limit. He was booked on charges including DWI; driving with an open container; failing to provide evidence of financial responsibility, because his car insurance had lapsed; failing to maintain the lane of travel; and disorderly conduct.

When given his phone call at the jail, Stanley III called Capt. Clinton Weatherspoon — a patrol officer brought to Gallup from Rio Rancho by former Chief Stanley. Weatherspoon climbed from police officer to sergeant to captain in less than two years with Gallup Police Department, skipping the rank of lieutenant. When Sylvester III called Weatherspoon, he called the third-highest ranking officer at the department.

Weatherspoon, who is still a captain at Gallup Police Department, doesn’t work the streets anymore. He has since been disallowed from patrol assignments, following an excessive-force incident for which the city was sued and subsequently settled, paying some $200,000 to four people.

Police officers who had worked for Stanley were not surprised when told his son had avoided consequences for allegedly driving drunk. The local police union showed a vote of no confidence less than four years after Stanley was sworn in.

“Several points were brought up about his inconsistency and favoritism,” current union President Harold Littlefield said recently.

“The first week I got into office I asked for his resignation,” City Manager Gerald Herrera said. “In part because of the union vote. Also because when I first got into office, I met with all the department heads that first Monday ... Stanley was out on vacation ... you’d think it would be important to meet your new boss. So when he came back that Friday I asked for his resignation.”

Reporter Phil Stake can be reached at philip.stake@gmail.com, or by calling (505) 863-6811 x223.