Numerous Eyes tell us that Lopez will be suspended for at least 160 hours without pay. It is still unclear whether Medina will face any discipline for failing to act when two of his officers were physically assaulted and threatened with retaliation by Lopez. It is also unclear whether Lopez will return to "leading" the SWAT unit or if the two officers who APD treated as suspects will be returned to the unit where they were victimized by Lopez.
Many of our Eyes expressed shock that Lopez wasn't simply terminated if not demoted for his unlawful actions. Our Eyes tell us that investigators from an "outside" agency were looking at the incident and for that reason Schultz had no choice but to do something. We at the Eye wonder if that "outside" agency is the big one here in town from Washington......
We know that Lopez has milked his position while the tactical commander of the Metro Division as he's enjoyed his horse rides in the arroyo (Read it Here) and has been a featured speaker detailing his and Medina's "extensive" knowledge of tactical operations (Read it Here) and crime scene "management."
While the local media finally did report that "something" was going on in APD's SWAT unit last October (Read it Here) we wonder what, if any, follow up there will be.
Given Schultz's perpetuation of APD's no comment policy (Read it Here) we extend a huge thanks to our Eyes for forwarding us this information. We now wonder how APD will make things right for Officers McFarlane and Arias after such an extensive ordeal.
