Commissioners Extend Paid Leave For Deputy Constable
By ABC-7 Reporter Martin Bartlett
EL PASO — Embattled Deputy Constable Mario Ramos will remain on paid administrative leave for another month, El Paso County Commissioners decided at their weekly meeting Monday morning.
Ramos has been on paid administrative leave since he allegedly shot on an unarmed in East El Paso in August.
“We’re going to go ahead and extend this for another 30 days — until, administratively, the sheriff has completed his investigation. hopefully then we’ll know something — right now, we don’t know anything,” County Commissioner Dan Haggerty said.
Since the sheriff’s office investigation still isn’t done yet, Haggerty said commissioners didn’t feel justified firing Ramos or putting him back on the street either.
Commissioners questioned Ramos’ boss, Precint 6 Constable Alex Gamboa behind closed doors at Monday morning’s meeting.
Ramos has been employed by and let go from many area law enforcement agencies — everything from the local police departments to the Texas Department of Public Safety. He left all of them under a cloud of suspicion that he used excessive force.
According to its website, the county is currently looking for a deputy constable in another precinct; the site said a deputy constable can expect to make about $38,000 dollars a year or more than three thousand dollars a month.
