DRUG CHARGE SHOWS BIAS, S.L. LATINOS SAY

Local Latino leaders blasted the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office
on Saturday for adding 2-year-old drug charges to allegations against the
illegal immigrant accused of recklessly operating a car that killed a Salt
Lake City Police bike patrolman last month.

Yocundo Cruz Silva faces up to one year in jail for allegedly traveling 30
miles over the posted speed limit, jumping a curb and running over Officer
Michael Dunman on July 17 along State Street near 1400 South. But on
Thursday, prosecutors also charged Cruz Silva for allegedly having a bag of
cocaine in a car he occupied in 1998. Latino leaders question whether Cruz
Silva's race and a thirst for revenge prompted the latest charge, a
first-degree felony that could potentially land Cruz Silva behind bars for
life.

"The police officers are basically using this in a vindictive manner based
on the accidental death of a police officer," said James Yapias, chairman of
a 12-person Hispanic advisory committee to Mayor Rocky Anderson.

Yapias said that if there were credible witnesses and sufficient evidence to
bolster the drug case against Cruz Silva, the matter should have been
handled soon after his arrest in 1998, not now.

Salt Lake County District Attorney David Yocum could not be reached for
comment Saturday, but has said that Cruz Silva was not charged sooner for
the drug charge because the arresting officer improperly processed the case.

Yapias said he and other members of the mayor's advisory committee want to
ensure that Cruz Silva, a Mexican citizen who lives in Salt Lake City with
his wife and children, gets equal treatment under the law and does not
become the victim of a double standard.

"We want due process for all Hispanics," Yapias said.

Cruz Silva is being held at the Salt Lake County jail on $100,000 bail.

Tribune staffer Gia Throndsen contributed to this story.