Last Updated on August 24, 2019 by CCAR Staff
A Montebello police lieutenant was arrested this week on suspicion of driving under the influence of a drug after he crashed into another car in Montclair, authorities said.
Montebello police Lt. Christopher Cervantes was placed on paid administrative leave following the arrest Wednesday, Police Chief Brad Keller said.
The crash, in which police believe Cervantes rear-ended another car, happened near the intersection of San Bernardino Street and Monte Vista Road at about 9 a.m. Wednesday, Montclair police Lt. Brian Ventura said.
Neither Cervantes nor the driver of the other car was injured.
Suspecting that Cervantes was under the influence of a drug, police arrested him and booked him on suspicion of DUI at a San Bernardino County jail, Ventura said. Authorities released him later that afternoon.
Efforts to reach Cervantes for comment via phone and email were unsuccessful.
Cervantes previously has been taken into police custody, though he has not been charged with a crime in connection with any of those incidents.
In 2015, Cervantes was arrested in an alleged drug DUI incident after crashing his car into a tree in Diamond Bar. He tested positive for acetaminophen/butalbital/codeine and morphine, a pain reliever prescription drug, according to court documents. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office declined to file charges, citing lack of evidence.
In 2011, Cervantes was detained after resisting arrest at a San Diego hotel party, falsely claiming to police officers that he was a federal agent, according to a police report. He was not charged in the case, according to San Diego County Superior Court records.
Keller said the department conducted an internal investigation into both cases. He could not comment on the outcomes.
Since his most recent arrest in 2015, Cervantes was promoted from sergeant to lieutenant.
“I’m aware of everything in his personnel file and as I was the one who promoted him, I was confident that he was a great candidate for promotion to lieutenant,” Keller said of Cervantes, who has been an employee of the department since December 1999.
Cervantes remains on paid leave while the department conducts its own internal investigation into the incident.
