FORT WORTH, Texas — A Fort Worth police officer was arrested Saturday on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, according to a release issued by the department.
Eduardo Gasca was off-duty at the time of his arrest by the Venus Police Department on Saturday, Dec. 23, police say. He did not appear in jail records on Tuesday, Dec. 26.
The Venus Police Department declined to comment to WFAA about the incident at the time of Gasca's arrest, but WFAA later obtained the arrest records.
According to those records, just before 4:30 a.m. on Dec. 23, a Venus police officer was parked in the 1000 block of U.S. Highway 67 in Venus, when he noticed a black pickup truck stop in the center of the median in the area of the same block.
The officer then turned on his spotlight to illuminate the vehicle to see if the driver was in need of some help, according to the report. The officer said when he believed the driver didn't need any assistance, he turned off his spotlight.
But then, according to the arrest report, the driver of the pickup truck, later identified as Gasca, turned his vehicle facing the officers and began driving toward it.
Due to safety concerns, the officer turned on his red and blue emergency lights and his full "take-down" lights, the report says. The officer reported that he had his window down and noticed Gasca's window was down, too, so the officer began shouting commands for Gasca to stop his vehicle.
Yet, those commands weren't followed by Gasca who kept driving his truck toward the officer, the report says.
As Gasca's truck advanced toward the officer's vehicle, the report says the officer opened his door in an attempt to exit before being struck. But Gasca's truck hit the officer's mirror with the front left panel of the vehicle, per the report.
The report says the officer then demanded Gasca out of his vehicle at gun point and took him into custody.
When asked how much he had to drink, the report says Gasca replied, "he had several shots in downtown Fort Worth."
Following a field sobriety test, Gasca was transported to the Johnson County jail without further incident.
According to the release by FWPD, Gasca has been with the department for 10 years and is assigned to the patrol bureau, according to the department's release. He’s currently on administrative leave while the department investigates the incident, police said.
“The Fort Worth Police Department holds its officers to a high standard on and off duty; therefore, a thorough investigation to collect and review the facts and circumstances of these allegations will be conducted,” the news release from the department read.
A Tarrant County grand jury in 2015 declined to indict Gasca after he fatally shot a robbery suspect, identified as Gilbert Reyna, 55, after Reyna allegedly charged at officers while armed with a baseball bat and a screwdriver in 2014, as WFAA reported at the time.
