DETECTIVE SUES BORDER AGENT OVER FIGHT

A fight in November 2000 between a Las Cruces police officer and a U.S.
Border Patrol agent has spilled into federal court.

Las Cruces police detective David Hernandez is suing Border Patrol agent
Tom Pouliot and the Border Patrol, alleging the scuffle cost him his
assignment with a task force led by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Hernandez said in his suit - filed April 5 in Las Cruces by lawyer Herman
E. Ortiz of Garfield - that Pouliot attacked him. Pouliot has denied it,
and a union representative for Border Patrol agents has said Hernandez was
the aggressor.

The case stems from an incident Nov. 30, 2000, at the Border Patrol
checkpoint on Interstate 25 north of Las Cruces. Police reports from the
Dona Ana County Sheriff's Department said Pouliot had heard about a memo
Hernandez drafted that implied Pouliot and two other Border Patrol agents
had lied about a drug-seizure case.

When Hernandez was dispatched to the checkpoint on Nov. 30, 2000, Pouliot
said he pulled Hernandez aside to ask him about the allegations, the
reports said.

Pouliot said Hernandez became irate and shoved and head-butted him,
according to the report. But Hernandez's suit said Pouliot confronted him,
assaulted him with foul language and attacked him.

The suit said the alleged attack resulted in Hernandez's being reassigned
from the task force and that that cost him a loss of income.

It also alleges Hernandez was embarrassed and humiliated and that he
suffered "severe emotional distress."

The lawsuit also alleges the Border Patrol knew Pouliot had a "propensity
for uncalled violence and inappropriate behavior" but kept him on the job.

Border Patrol spokesman Doug Mosier in El Paso said his agency investigated
the incident, but he could not discuss details or say whether Pouliot was
cleared.

Pouliot has been reassigned to administrative duties in the Las Cruces
office, Mosier said.

The Las Cruces Police Department also conducted an internal probe, but
spokesman Sgt. Joel Cano said he could not divulge details. Cano said
Hernandez was reassigned to patrol on the "graveyard" shift.