Cop fired for accusations

Independent staff

GALLUP — A probationary police officer has been fired by the department after he made what his superiors believe were unfounded accusations of police brutality against fellow officers.

The officer, Archie Romero, 37, was fired by Gallup Police Chief Sylvester Stanley last week. He appealed that decision to City Manager Eric Honeyfield, who said he upheld Stanley's decision.

Police and city officials said they could not talk about the reasons behind the termination since this is a personnel issue, but the Independent has learned from sources that it concerns accusations that Romero made about two officers beating up a suspect.

Romero reportedly told the victim that he would testify on his behalf if a complaint was filed and then reported the incident to his superiors. But when he was given a lie detector test in Albuquerque, he reportedly failed it.

Honeyfield said that since Romero was on probation, he only had the right to appeal the decision to his office, which he did. Honeyfield said that he was also upset that Romero decided to make his complaints against the police department public before the appeal was made.